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THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 


THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

A  Study  of  the  Causes  of  Crime 


By 

HANNAH  KENT  SCHOFF 

President  of  the  National  CongresB  of  Mothers  and  Parent  Teacher  Associations. 

President  of  the  Philadelphia  Juvenile  Court  and  Probation  Association, 

Collaborator  in  the  Home  Education  Division  of  the  United 

States  Bureau  of  Education  and  Editor  of 

The  Child  Welfare  Magazine 


CHILDHOOD  AND  YOUTH  SERIES 
Edited  by  M.  V.  O'SHEA 

Professor  of  Education,  The  University  of  Wisconsin 


INDIANAPOLIS 

THE  BOBBS-MERRILL  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


Copyright  1915 
The  Bobbs-Merrill  Compant 


PRCaS    OF 

BRAUNWORTH    d    CO. 

BOOKBINDERS    AND    PRINTERS 

BROOKLYN.    N.    Y. 


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0  EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

We  are  being  told  frequently  these  days  by  persons 
\J,  of  high  authority  that  crime  is  constantly  becoming  a 
more  serious  problem  in  American  life.  Recently  sev- 
eral investigators  have  made  alarming  statements  to 
the  effect  that  juvenile  delinquency  is  steadily  increas- 
ing in  this  country.  Many  persons  are  placing  the 
blame  for  this  unhappy  condition  of  affairs  on  the 

V  school;  others  are  saying  that  the  home  is  at  fault; 

^  while  still  others  are  claiming  that  social  conditions  are 
mainly  responsible  for  the  development  of  the  youth- 
ful criminal.    Apparently  all  these  people  are  in  ear- 

^  nest  in  their  efforts  to  determine  the  factors  whicH 
K  lead  the  young  into  a  criminal  career ;  but  most  of  the 

^  discussion  of  this  subject  which  one  reads  in  our  day 

<^  is  based  on  a  study  of  the  matter  from  the  outside, 
as  it  were.    The  sociologist  discusses  the  question  from 

\>  the  standpoint  of  the  general  principles  of  social  or- 
ganization and  social  activity.    The  minister  treats  the 

^  problems  involved  from  the  view-point  of  religion, 
while  the  psychologist  views  them  from  his  special 
standpoint.  Comparatively  few  of  those  who  write 
on  this  theme  have  actually  studied  criminals  at  first 
hand  and  learned  from  them  the  story  of  their  lives, 
for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  what  they  themselves 
think  were  the  factors  which  turned  them  into  evil 
paths.  There  have  been  some  helpful  "confessions" 
of  criminals,  and  these  have  given  a  glimpse  of  the 


t3v>4>ljiCf' 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

early  life  of  the  authors  and  have  indicated  at  what 
point  they  were  deflected  into  ways  of  crime.  But 
these  "confessions"  have  not  been  numerous,  although 
students  of  human  nature  have  appreciated  that  a  great 
amount  of  valuable  information  could  be  secured  from 
an  offender  if  he  could  be  induced  to  make  a  frank 
statement  of  his  own  experiences,  and  give  his  opinion 
as  to  ways  and  means  of  training  the  young  so  that 
they  would  be  able  to  repress  evil  tendencies. 

The  author  of  The  Wayward  Child  has  adopted  the 
method  of  getting  directly  from  criminals  the  story  of 
their  lives  for  the  purpose  of  finding  out  what  condi- 
tions led  to  their  downfall.  She  secured  from  a  large 
number  of  men  and  women  in  jails  and  prisons 
throughout  the  country  frank  statements  of  their  early 
careers.  Her  correspondents  were  evidently  genuinely 
interested  in  the  questions  which  were  asked  them. 
They  desired  to  tell  truthfully  the  experiences  which 
had  led  them  into  conflict  with  the  law,  and  in  a  great 
many  cases  they  pointed  out  with  clearness  and  ear- 
nestness what  ought  to  be  done  with  young  people  in 
order  to  save  them  from  a  criminal  life.  Mrs.  Schoff 
supplemented  her  questionnaire  by  direct  visits  to  a 
good  many  prisoners.  She  gained  their  confidence, 
and  learned  from  them  directly  what  they  considered 
to  be  the  influences  which  led  them  into  delinquency. 
Besides,  Mrs.  Schoff  has  for  many  years  been  presi- 
dent of  the  Juvenile  Court  Association  in  her  native 
city,  and  she  has  studied  the  careers  of  a  great  many 


EDITOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

young  people  who  have  passed  through  the  juvenile 
court. 

The  present  volume  assembles  the  results  of  all  these 
investigations  and  experiences,  and  interprets  and  com- 
ments on  the  facts  presented.  The  book  is  a  practical 
study  of  the  facts  and  conditions  in  contemporary 
American  life  which  lead  the  young  into  conflict  with 
the  institutions  of  society.  The  various  suggestions 
for  improvement  which  the  author  makes  are  all  based 
on  her  concrete  material  and  her  actual  experience  in 
dealing  with  young  ofifenders.  Mrs.  Schoff  should  be 
considered  as  a  practical  rather  than  a  theoretical  stu- 
dent of  the  psychology  and  sociology  of  juvenile  crime, 
and  the  book  will  therefore  appeal  particularly  to  those 
who  are  charged  with  the  immediate  care  and  educa- 
tion of  the  young.  But  it  will  also  be  of  service  to 
theoretical  students,  because  it  will  furnish  a  body  of 
interesting  and  accurate  material  illustrating  the  re- 
sults on  juvenile  conduct  of  all  the  dominant  forces  in 
modern  city,  village  and  country  life. 

M.  V.  O'Shea. 
Madison,  Wisconsin. 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

"If  we  work  upon  marble,  it  will  perish;  if  we  work  upon 
brass,  time  will  efface  it;  if  we  rear  temples,  they  will  crum- 
ble into  dust;  but  if  we  work  upon  immortal  souls,  if  we 
imbue  them  with  immortal  principles,  with  the  just  fear  of 
God  and  love  of  fellow  men,  we  engrave  on  those  tablets 
something  which  will  brighten  all  eternity." — Daniel  Web- 
ster. 

This  book  carries  a  message  to  those  whose  interest 
has  not  yet  been  awakened  in  the  work  of  saving  the 
wayward  child.  This  is  not  a  problem  for  the  few,  it 
is  a  problem  for  all,  for  without  help  from  all  some 
children  will  always  suffer.  Because  in  the  past  few 
have  known  the  unfortunate  and  dangerous  conditions 
many  children  are  laboring  under,  these  conditions 
have  continued  longer  than  would  have  been  possible 
were  it  realized  what  such  conditions  entail  on  children 
and  on  society  at  large.  A  little  child  has  led  the 
writer  to  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  causes  which  are 
responsible  for  making  wayward  children,  of  the  treat- 
ment provided  for  them,  its  effects  on  them  and  of  the 
possibility  of  providing  more  effective  measures  for 
prevention  and  treatment. 

One  morning  in  May,  1899,  the  Philadelphia  papers 
gave  an  account  of  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  a 
little  girl  for  setting  fire  to  a  house.  Her  picture  was 
published,  and  with  startling  head-lines  she  was  her- 
alded to  the  world  as  "A  Prodigy  of  Crime."  Mother- 
less since  she  had  been  two  years  old,  an  inmate  of  an 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

orpHanageand  then  a  drudge  in  a  city  boarding-House, 
with  no  companionship  save  that  of  ignorant  servants, 
there  had  been  Httle  opportunity  for  her  to  develop 
any  moral  responsibility.  Friendless  she  was,  arrested, 
imprisoned,  tried  in  a  criminal  court  and  sentenced  to 
a  House  of  Refuge,  and  only  eight  years  old !  When 
asked  why  she  had  started  the  fire  she  frankly  said, 
"To  see  the  fire  burn  and  the  engines  run." 

Branded  as  a  criminal  and  sentenced  to  the  compan- 
ionship of  girls  guilty  of  crimes  of  far  greater  menace 
to  character,  what  hope  could  the  future  hold  for  her  ? 
The  injustice  in  the  treatment  of  this  poor  child  led 
me  to  the  determination  to  rescue  her  if  possible,  and 
to  do  for  her  what  I  should  wish  some  one  to  do  for 
my  own  little  girl  were  she  in  a  similar  position — as 
she  might  have  been  had  she  been  motherless  and 
friendless  at  such  a  tender  age.  An  interview  with  the 
judge  and  an  appeal  to  be  permitted  to  place  the  child 
in  a  good  home  that  I  had  secured  for  her  resulted  in 
his  granting  the  request.  That  child,  regarded  as 
such  a  prodigy  of  crime,  grew  up  in  the  home  given  her 
by  a  noble  woman.  She  has  been  graduated  from  a 
normal  school,  and  is  now  an  assistant  principal  in  one 
of  the  public  schools  of  Pennsylvania,  The  same  re- 
sults might  be  attained  with  most  so-called  prodigies 
of  crime  if  they  could  be  put  under  the  right  influences 
at  the  time  when  such  influences  count. 

When  I  remonstrated  with  the  judge  for  sending 
such  a  child  to  a  reformatory  he  said  he  had  no  choice 
in  the  matter,  for  there  was  no  other  place  to  send  her 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

and  they  did  not  want  her  even  there,  on  account  of 
the  character  of  her  offense.  Further  investigation 
into  the  methods  of  procedure  with  children  only  in- 
tensified the  feeling  already  aroused,  that  injustice  and 
wrong  were  being  committed  in  the  name  of  justice. 

Pennsylvania  has  two  houses  of  refuge,  one  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  state  and  one  in  the  western.  In 
addition  to  these  the  state  has  a  reformatory  at  Hunt- 
ington for  boys  over  fifteen  years  of  age.  A  law  pro- 
hibits the  retention  of  children  in  almshouses  for  more 
than  two  months,  but  the  state  had  provided  no  other 
place  for  helpless  children  who  often,  through  no 
fault  of  their  own,  were  left  to  the  state  for  care,  pro- 
tection and  training.  Private  charities  have  stepped  in 
to  fill  this  gap  and  in  many  cases  they  have  done  good 
work  in  saving  children,  but  this  work  has  always  been 
inadequate. 

There  were  five  hundred  children  ranging  from  six 
to  sixteen  years  of  age  in  the  Philadelphia  County 
Prison  in  1900.  There  were  from  two  to  three  hun- 
dred children  passing  through  the  station  houses  of 
the  city  every  month,  all  standing  in  critical  need  of 
intelligent  direction  and  guidance,  yet  receiving  noth- 
ing. There  were  children  in  every  county  prison 
throughout  Pennsylvania,  committed  for  trifling  of- 
fenses and  subjected  to  influences  that  could  not  fail 
to  confirm  evil  habits.  There  were  over  eight  hundred 
children  in  each  reformatory,  and  no  distinction  was 
made  as  to  the  children  committed  there.  Waifs, 
homeless  little  ones  and  children  accused  of  serious 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

crimes  were  indiscriminately  sent  to  the  same  institu- 
tion. It  was  made  easy  to  send  them  there.  The  state 
put  a  premium  on  parental  irresponsibility  and  wel- 
comed all  who  wished  to  receive  education  and  support 
at  its  expense. 

Any  magistrate  could  commit  a  child  to  a  reforma- 
tory on  a  parent's  statement  of  incorrigibility,  and  no 
effort  seems  to  have  been  made  to  prove  the  parent's 
statement.  The  child's  side  of  the  case  was  never 
heard.  The  result  was  that  step-fathers  and  step- 
mothers desiring  to  be  freed  from  the  care  of  children 
took  this  method  of  throwing  on  the  state  the  duty  that 
belonged  to  them,  and  more  than  half  the  children  in 
the  House  of  Refuge  were  there  on  account  of  the 
complaints  of  parents.  The  stigma  of  having  been  in 
a  reformatory  was  thus  put  unjustly  on  hundreds  of 
children  and  the  state  was  subjected  to  an  expense 
that  was  totally  unwarranted.  It  was  to  the  advantage 
of  the  institution  to  receive  small  children,  because  in 
working  with  these  they  could  show  a  larger  percent- 
age of  reform.  The  cottage  system  was  used,  yet  with 
fifty  or  sixty  children  in  each  house  and  thirty  sleeping 
in  one  room  there  could  be  little  resemblance  to  family 
life.  These  reformatories  provided  excellent  educa- 
tional opportunities,  industrial  as  well  as  academic, 
and  they  provided  good  food  and  fresh  air  in  abun- 
dance. jBut  the  mingling  together  of  hundreds  of  boys 
committed  for  every  kind  of  crime,  with  only  a  distinc-' 
tion  for  size  and  age,  made  these  institutions  places 
where  even  with  the  moral  stimulus  coming  from  those, 


AUTHOP'^  INTRODUCTION 

in  cKarge  of  them,  tHe  inevitable  result  to  all  was  a  fa- 
miliarity with  crime  of  every  sort.\ 

The  reformatory  was  in  Pennsylvania  the  only  place 
to  send  children,  except  the  prisons,  and  some  of  the 
best  judges  sent  children  to  prison,  because  there  they 
were  isolated  instead  of  being  associated  with  other 
offenders.  Their  trial  was  in  the  criminal  court,  and 
in  the  cages  for  criminals  the  boys  and  girls  awaited 
their  turn,  listening  to  things  too  vile  to  mention,  and 
receiving  lessons  in  evil  never  to  be  forgotten.  Dockets 
were  always  crowded,  and  never  was  there  any  one  to 
give  the  busy  judge  any  information  that  would  help 
him  to  decide  a  child's  case  wisely.  Such  were  the 
conditions  in  Pennsylvania  in  1900. 

And  then  it  was  that,  with  an  inward  vow  to  work 
unceasingly  until  something  better  than  this  could  be 
devised  for  unfortunate  children,  the  movement  was 
planned  which  has  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  the 
juvenile  court  and  probation  system  in  Pennsylvania 
and  which  has  influenced  its  establishment  in  many 
other  places. 

The  first  step  toward  this  was  a  personal  investiga- 
tion of  what  other  states  were  doing  for  children.  A 
committee  was  formed  which  assisted  in  the  compila- 
tion of  the  laws  concerning  dependent,  delinquent  and 
defective  children  in  every  state.  Through  the  gen- 
erosity of  the  New  Century  Club  and  of  two  of  its 
members  this  compilation  of  statutes  was  published  in 
1900  and  widely  distributed  among  those  making  simi- 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

lar  investigations.  It  was  used  as  a  text-book  in  sev- 
eral large  universities. 

Few  states  had  given  thought  to  protecting  the  in- 
terests of  childhood.  Convict  Children  was  the  title  of 
the  statutes  in  some  states.  The  states  which  stood 
out  in  bold  relief  in  child  care  were  Massachusetts  and 
Michigan,  while  Illinois  had  just  introduced  its  juve- 
nile court  and  probation  system.  Our  investigation  led 
us  to  the  conclusion  that  Illinois  in  its  juvenile  court 
and  probation  system  had  introduced  the  most  valuable 
and  effective  method  of  dealing  with  unfortunate  chil- 
dren and  that  this  system  was  the  first  thing  to  be  de- 
sired in  every  state.  An  interview  with  the  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania  and  with  several  political  leaders  se- 
cured their  hearty  support  for  the  movement.  The 
enactment  of  the  laws  followed  in  May,  1901,  and  was 
a  surprise  and  shock  to  those  who  felt  that  the  old 
ways  were  good  enough. 

Up  to  1899  children  were  tried  in  criminal  courts 
throughout  the  United  States  and  prisons  had  hun- 
dreds of  child  inmates.  Thousands  of  children  were 
arrested  every  month  with  no  provision  for  any  help 
to  prevent  further  wrongdoing.  The  book,  Statutes 
of  Every  State  in  the  United  States  Concerning  De- 
pendent and  Delinquent  Children,  became  the  basis  of 
knowledge  of  state  responsibility  for  children  assumed 
up  to  1900.  Further  knowledge  of  the  wrongs  against 
children  committed  in  every  state  impelled  the  writer 
to  do  her  part  in  calling  attention  to  these  facts  and  in 
awakening  public  sentiment  to  demand  better  methods 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION- 

for  child  protection.  The  way  has  led  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  questions  of  child  life  as  they  are  met 
in  home,  school  and  state.  Investigation  combined 
with  practical  work  with  children  has  brought  to  light 
many  facts  which  bear  strongly  on  the  causes  which 
have  made  courts  so  busy  and  prisons  so  full. 

Through  the  interest  aroused  among  Pennsylvania 
men  and  women  when  the  facts  were  placed  before 
them  Philadelphia  became  the  second  American  city 
to  establish  a  juvenile  court,  and  Pennsylvania  became 
the  third  state  to  pass  laws  against  placing  children  in 
prisons  or  hearing  their  cases  in  a  criminal  court.  This 
was  the  first  result  of  the  work,  and  Philadelphia  had 
its  first  session  of  the  Juvenile  Court  in  June,  1901. 

The  supplying  of  probation  officers,  for  whose  salary 
there  was  no  provision,  was  the  next  step.  For  eight 
years,  with  the  valuable  help  of  those  who  had  become 
interested  in  the  cause,  the  organization  of  probation 
work,  its  extension,  support  and  direction  in  Philadel- 
phia devolved  upon  the  writer.  During  that  time  over 
ten  thousand  cases  were  observed  and  carefully 
studied.  Five  thousand  children  were  placed  on  pro- 
bation, the  others  being  discharged  or  sent  to  institu- 
tions. Weekly  meetings  with  probation  officers  were 
held,  to  consider  what  could  best  be  done  to  help  the 
children,  before  the  cases  were  heard  in  court. 

The  causes  of  arrest  were  larceny,  running  away 
from  home,  incorrigibility,  vagrancy,  assault  and  ma- 
licious mischief.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  those  arrested 
were  boys,  ten  per  cent,  girls.    About  half  of  the  chil- 


.AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

dren  were  nanve  born.  More  than  half  of  them  were 
between  thirteen  and  sixteen,  about  one-third  between 
ten  and  thirteen  and  the  remainder  were  under  ten 
years  of  age.  Ninety  per  cent,  were  normal  children 
who  were  bright  and  who  possessed  the  natural  ability 
of  more  favored  children.  About  ten  per  cent,  were 
physically  or  mentally  below  normal.  In  each  case 
there  was  a  thorough  investigation  as  to  the  home  con- 
ditions and  school  record  of  the  child  as  well  as  into 
the  causes  that  had  led  to  arrest.  The  causes  of  juve- 
nile delinquency  can  be  summed  up  in  a  few  words,  as, 
parental  ignorance  concerning  child  nurture,  bad  home 
conditions,  community  ignorance  and  the  failure  to 
provide  for  children's  needs.  In  nearly  every  case  the 
child  is  the  innocent  victim  of  circumstances  over 
which  he  has  no  control.  In  other  words,  children 
appear  in  juvenile  court  as  the  result  of  conditions 
outside  of  themselves  but  which  would  bring  any  child 
there  who  might  be  subjected  to  them. 

The  study  of  the  arrested  children  in  a  city  of  a 
million  and  a  half  inhabitants  gives  one  a  broad  view 
of  and  insight  into  the  conditions  which  bring  children 
into  court.  While  seeking  to  give  suitable  help  to  each 
child  the  writer  has  also  been  studying  the  broader 
problem,  endeavoring  to  learn  all  that  leads  to  arrest 
and  why  so  many  children  are  driven  to  take  the  down- 
ward path.  Each  year  has  deepened  the  conviction 
that  ignorant,  injurious,  mistaken  treatment  of  chil- 
dren is  the  real  cause  of  crime.  The  writer's  experi- 
ence with  ten  thousand  children  is  conclusive  in  its 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

indication  that  the  reason  why  the  prisons  are  full 
dates  back  to  the  early  lives  of  these  men  and  women 
whom  the  world  calls  criminals. 

As  a  result  of  this  conviction  the  writer  began  to 
wish  that  it  were  possible  to  get  into  communication 
with  prison  inmates  and  learn  directly  from  them  what 
were  their  thoughts  and  feelings  about  their  early 
lives  and  what  they  considered  the  causes  of  their 
downfall.  Theories  may  or  may  not  be  true.  They 
never,  at  any  rate,  carry  conviction  as  do  the  plain 
facts  of  actual  experience.  And  it  is  for  this  reason 
that  the  writer  was  led  more  and  more  to  wish  to  get 
information  directly  from  prison  inmates  concerning 
the  causes  of  crime. 

An  opportunity  to  make  just  such  an  investigation 
into  the  early  life  of  prison  inmates  came  in  1909. 
This  opportunity  came  through  the  writer's  receiving 
an  appointment  from  the  Department  of  State  to  rep- 
resent the  United  States  at  the  Home  Education  Con- 
gress in  Belgium,  and  also  being  appointed  by  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Education,  chairman  of  the 
American  Committee  on  Causes  of  Crime  in  Normal 
Children.  The  members  of  the  committee  were,  be- 
sides the  writer,  the  Honorable  Ben  B.  Lindsey,  the 
Honorable  William  H.  De  Lacy,  Superintendent  Will- 
iam H.  Slotter,  Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Atkinson,  secretary, 
with  Professor  M.  V.  O'Shea,  who  was  chairman  of 
the  American  committees  making  special  studies.  Let- 
ters were  sent  to  the  wardens  of  all  the  penitentiaries, 
asking  whether  they  would  be  willing  to  submit  a  pre- 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

pared  list  of  sixty-five  questions  to  the  inmates,  and 
offering  to  send  as  many  copies  of  the  questionnaire  as 
should  be  needed. 

The  replies  from  wardens  in  fifteen  states  were 
favorable,  and  at  their  request  twenty  thousand  ques- 
tionnaires were  sent  to  them.  It  was  felt  that  the  point 
of  view  of  the  men  and  women  who  have  lived  through 
all  that  lies  back  of  a  prison  sentence  must  have  some 
bearing  on  any  serious  study  of  crime.  The  questions 
were  asked  with  the  purpose  of  learning  the  causes 
leading  to  crime,  and  whether  or  not  the  treatment 
given  had  served  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  in- 
tended. Space  was  given  for  brief  life  stories  of  those 
who  replied.  Out  of  twenty  thousand  questionnaires 
sent  over  two  thousand  replies  were  received.  They 
came  from  eight  states  and  were  representative  in 
character,  and  in  nearly  all  cases  the  desire  was  indi- 
cated to  cooperate  in  the  purpose  for  which  the  com- 
mittee was  making  the  investigation.  The  questionnaire 
contained  a  statement  that  the  committee  was  investi- 
gating the  causes  which  lead  boys  and  girls  to  offend 
against  the  law  and  enter  into  lives  of  crime,  with  the 
purpose  of  protecting  the  youth  of  the  country  and 
preventing  them  from  following  criminal  careers. 
These  statements  also  appeared  on  each  questionnaire 
and  seemed  to  touch  a  responsive  chord  in  many 
hearts:  "You  can  help  innocent  children  by  replying 
truthfully  to  the  questions  submitted  to  you.  Your 
answers  will  be  confidential  and  your  name  is  not  de? 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

sired,  Hut  the  information  you  may  give  will  help  to 
give  boys  and  girls  a  better  chance." 

One  prisoner  of  thirty  v^rote,  commenting  on  these 
statements:  "If  by  answering  these  few  questions  I 
am  able  to  prevent  only  one  boy  or  girl  from  leading 
a  dishonest  or  criminal  life  I  am  well  satisfied  and 
would  willingly  answer  a  thousand  more."  Many 
others  expressed  the  same  thought  in  different  ways. 

No  one  could  read  the  life  stories  of  these  erring 
men  and  women  without  arriving  at  the  conclusion 
that  prevention  of  crime  instead  of  punishment  must 
be  the  great  work  of  the  future. 

The  contributing  causes  lie  in  home,  in  church,  in 
school,  in  city  and  state.  In  the  years  that  the  writer 
has  been  in  touch  with  the  so-called  incorrigible  chil- 
dren of  a  great  city  she  has  seen  many  who  were  re- 
garded as  hopelessly  wicked  respond  to  the  love  and 
care  given  them.  Grown  to  manhood  and  womanhood, 
leading  honest  and  useful  lives,  they  have  proved  that 
they  were  not  incorrigible  or  hopeless. 

The  crime  committed  has  hitherto  held  the  center  of 
the  stage.  It  is  more  important  to  learn,  however,  why 
it  was  committed.  To  guard  and  properly  guide  every 
child  in  the  formative  years  of  life,  to  prepare  him  to 
meet  temptations  of  every  kind,  but  to  protect  him 
from  meeting  them  until  he  is  strong  enough  to  resist 
them — ^this  is  the  constructive  work  demanded  of  par- 
ents, teachers  and  the  state. 

Crime  can  only  be  prevented  as  the  causes  which 
contribute  to  making  the  criminal  are  fully  understood 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

and  removed.  The  belief  that  certain  people  constitutei 
a  criminal  class  and  that  society  must  take  their  exist- 
ence for  granted  and  provide  for  them  has  hitherto 
tended  to  impede  any  reduction  in  criminality. 

The  child  stands  in  our  midst  to-day  as  he  did  when 
the  Savior  placed  him  there  and  said,  "Suffer  the 
little  children  to  come  unto  me  and  forbid  them  not, 
for  of  such  is  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven."  Concerning 
the  wayward  He  said,  "If  a  man  have  an  hundred 
sheep,  and  one  of  them  be  gone  astray,  doth  he  not 
leave  the  ninety  and  nine,  and  goeth  into  the  moun- 
tains, and  seeketh  that  which  is  gone  astray?  .  .  . 
Even  so  it  is  not  the  will  of  your  Father  which  is  in 
Heaven  that  one  of  these  little  ones  should  perish." 

Could  there  be  stronger  testimony  than  that  as  to 
the  possibilities  inherent  in  every  child,  or  a  stronger 
plea  for  help  for  those  who  go  astray?  It  places  be- 
yond argument  the  fact  that  the  germs  of  good  are  in 
every  child.  What  has  the  world  done  to  foster  and 
develop  them?  Why  have  so  many  failed  to  develop 
their  better  selves  ? 

Fourteen  years  of  study  of  these  questions,  with  the 
information  gained  in  the  course  of  that  study,  have 
brought  the  writer  to  the  conclusion  that  in  saving  the 
wayward  child  lies  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  pre- 
venting crime.  That  hitherto  crime  has  increased  is 
the  natural  result  of  the  treatment  of  children  in  the 
past.  The  question  is  one  that  touches  our  whole 
social  structure.  It  is  one  that  can  only  be  settled  by 
the  intelligent,  united  effort  of  parents,  teachers  and 


AUTHOR'S  INTRODUCTION 

the  state  in  the  adoption  of  methods  better  fitted  to 

develop  and  save  children.    It  is  a  question  that  must 

be  viewed  from  many  angles  to  realize  the  full  effect 

on  child  life.    All  these  angles  must  be  straightened  out 

and  linked  together  until,  like  a  circle  without  a  weak 

link  or  a  break,  home,  church,  school  and  state  adopt 

methods  and  undertake  care  which  will  enable  every 

child  to  develop  the  highest  rather  than  the  lowest  side 

of  his  nature. 

H.  K.  S. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I  At  the  Parting  of  the  Ways 1 

The  Wayward  Child  and  Adult  Criminality — Way- 
wardness Remediable  —  Sympathy  Necessary  —  Spe- 
cialized Knowledge — Arrests  of  Children — Imitation 
— Need  for  Discernment — Children  in  Danger — Other 
Dangers  —  Cigarettes  —  Prevention  —  Children  not 
Criminals — How  All  Can  Help — The  First  Offense — 
The  Parent's  First  Duty — Knowledge  of  Conditions. 

II  The  Crimes  that  Fill  the  Prisons      ....     14 

Crime  Against  Property — Crime,  Against  the  Per- 
son— Parental  Neglect — Released  Prisoners — Youth- 
ful Prisoners — Types  of  Offenders — Influence  of  Jails 
— Evil  Contagious — Typical  Instances — A  Warden's 
Opinion. 

■  Ilf^  How  Homes  Promote  Criminality— Parents'  Mis- 

takes 26 

Parents'  Misunderstanding  —  Why  Children  Run 
Away — Was  This  Boy  a  Vagrant? — Drunken  Par- 
ents —  Craving  for  Love  —  Necessity  for  Mother- 
ing— Evenings  in  the  Streets — Home  Conditions — 
Influence  of  Heredity — Wayward  Children  Are  Nor- 
mal— More  than  Half  American-Born — Arrested  for 
Stealing  —  Self-Control  —  Running  Away  —  Nine- 
Tenths  Are  Boys — Children's  Reading — School  Libra- 
ries— Reading  Courses — The  Danger  of  Impurity — 
Functions  of  Life — Inefficient  Homes. 

IV  Separation  of  Parents .;      .    51 

Children  and  Divorce — Need  for  Guardians. 

V  Regulation  of  Occupations  for  Children   ...    61 

Early  Experiences  —  Guardians  for  Children  — 
Homeless  Chilaren — Remedial  Legislation — Effect  of 
Legislation — Playgrounds — Habit  of  Work — Freedom 
and  Initiative — Placing  Responsibility — Work  Pre- 
vents Crime. 


CONTENTS— (Continued) 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VI  The  Homeless  Motherless  Child      .      .      .      .      7i 

Criminals  Handicapped — Orphan  Asylums — Home 
Finding — Arrests  for  Vagrancy — What  the  State  May 
Do — Protection  of  Children  —  Evidence  from  the 
Prisons  —  Mothers  Versus  Institutions  —  Need  for 
Mothers — Breaking  Up  of  Families — Mothers'  Pen- 
sions— Administration  of  Pensions — Murder,  the  Re- 
sult— Parent-Teacher  Associations. 

VII  Boyish  Pranks  Treated  as  Crimes  Make  Crim- 

inals         93 

Turning    Points   in   Life — Serious    Results — Entire 
Lives  Wrecked — Moral  Disease — Educational  Author- 
/  ities. 

/  VIII  Schools  and  the  Wayward  Child  ....  106 
Juvenile  Courts — Natural  Activities — One  Teach- 
er's Method — Why  Children  Leave  School — Trade 
Schools — The  Teacher  and  Wayward  Children — Pub- 
lic School-Teachers — Married  Women  as  Teachers — 
Both  Men  and  Women — Responsibility  of  the  School. 

IX  Truancy 121 

Mothers  Working  Outside — Schools  Do  Not  Inter- 
est Children — Poverty  and  Truancy — Truant  Officers 
— Dealing  with  Truants — Faults  Every  Teacher  Meets 
— Helpers  Needed — Preventing  Crime — Young  Teach- 
ers— A  Personal  Relation — The  Child  Who  Steals — 
The  Child  Who  Lies — Irregular  Attendance — Parents' 
Cooperation — The  Bureau  of  Education. 

X  The  Saloon's  Part  in  the  Dovi^nfall  of  Youth    .     137 

The  Saloon — National  Regulation — Governmental 
Expense — The  Saloon  or  the  School — Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  Y.  W.  C.  A. 

XI  The  State's  Methods  in  Treatment  of  Crime      .     158 

Criminal  Procedure — Minor  Offenses — The  Minor 
Courts — The  Wayward  Girl  —  Juvenile  Offenders — 
Children  in  Prisons — Criminal  Courts — Prisons — Re- 
leased Prisoners — Conditions  in  Prisons — Political 
Control  —  Helping  Prisoners  —  Responsibility  for 
Crime — Making  New  Crimes — Efficiency  of  the  State 
— City  Ordinances. 


CONTENTS— (Continued) 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XII  Reform  Schools  as  a  Part  of  the  Penal  System    179 

One  Cause  of  Failure  —  Indiscriminate  Commit- 
ments— Irresponsible  Parents — The  Reform  School — 
Large  Institutions — The  Institution  Child. 

XIII  The  Place  and  Work  of  the  Juvenile  Court    .    204 

Chicago's  Juvenile  Court — Juvenile  Court  Laws — 
The  Supreme  Court — The  Dependent  Child — The 
Erring  Child — Incorrigible  Children — Truants — ^Juve- 
nile Court  Not  a  Criminal  Court  in  Pennsylvania — A 
Hospital  for  Treating  Moral  Disease  —  Probation 
Work — A  Juvenile  Court — The  Next  Step  Forward — 
A  Juvenile  Court  Judge — Rural  Districts — The  Re- 
quirements— Procedure — Temporary  Homes — Board- 
ing Homes — Probation  Work — Training  Schools. 

XIV  Probation  that  Will  Save  Wayward  Children    233 

Qualifications  Essential  to  Good  Probation  Work — 
Safeguarding  the  System — Training  in  Honesty — 
Dealing  with  Theft — Parents'  and  Teachers'  Treat- 
ment of  Dishonesty — Hope  and  Encouragement — 
Immorality — Other  Offenses — The  Citizens'  Initiative 
— Personnel  of  Association — The  State  Commission 
— Cooperation  of  Churches — Mothers'  Circles — De- 
tention Houses. 

XV  A  Children's  Charter  for  the  United  States    .    257 

No  Correlation — Better  Opportunities — Child  Wel- 
fare Commissions. 

Index 271 


THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 


THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

CHAPTER  I 

AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS 

THE  wayward  child  has  been  from  time  im- 
memorial an  anxiety  to  parents,  a  problem  in 
the  school  and  an  object  for  discipline  and  pun- 
ishment by  the  state  when  his  offenses  became 
too  disturbing  to  be  ignored. 

The  Wayward  Child  and  Adult  Criminality. — 
The  relation  of  the  wayward  child  to  the  whole 
great  problem  of  crime  in  society  has  yet  to  be 
realized.  When  it  is  proved  that  from  the  ranks 
of  children  who  are  to-day  standing  at  the  part- 
ing of  the  ways  our  criminals  of  the  future  are 
being  recruited,  the  subject  of  the  wayward  child 
will  be  regarded  as  one  of  deepest  concern  to  the 
entire  nation,  i  Those  who  have  had  little  contact 
with  these  children  often  feel  that  they  are  fun- 
damentally different  from  other  children.  On  the 
other  hand,  those  who  have  known  thousands  of 
them  learn  that  t.hey  possess  the  same  innate  pos- 
sibilities as  do  more  fortunate  children-^that  they 

1 


2  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

are  in  a  condition  similar  to  that  of  the  people 
who  have  been  classed  as  lazy  and  good-for-noth- 
ing because  the  hook-worm  was  sapping  their 
life-blood  and  depleting  their  energy,  conditions 
for  which  these  people  were  not  responsible,  but 
which  were  nevertheless  undermining  their 
moral  life.  In  discovering  the  hook-worm  gov- 
ernment medical  experts  brought  to  thousands 
of  our  citizens  the  blessing  of  health,  for  the 
condition  was  found  to  be  remediable  and  pre- 
ventable. 

Waywardness  Remediable. — The  problem  of 
the  wayward  erring  child  is  one  that  exists  in 
every  community,  yet  it,  too,  is  a  condition  that 
is  largely  remediable  and  preventable.  It  took 
years  of  earnest  study  to  reveal  the  hook-worm 
as  a  cause  of  low  vitality  and  lack  of  initiative 
and  energy.  Infinitely  more  subtle  is  that  spirit 
which  gives  life  and  power  to  the  human  body, 
and  the  intelligent  comprehension  of  all  that  de- 
presses or  inspires  it  is  correspondingly  more  dif- 
ficult— but  this  may  be  accomplished,  so  that  the 
obstacles  which  obstruct  the  spirit's  normal 
growth  and  development  can  be  seen  and  re- 
moved. 

Sympathy  Necessary. — In  dealing  with  way- 
ward children  it  is  often  necessary  to  combine 
the  wisdom  of  the  skilled  physician  with  the  wis- 
dom of  those  who  have  given  most  effective 
study  to  the  development  of  the  soul  and  heart 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  .WAYS    3 

in  childhood.  Physically  one  may  be  developed 
to  great  perfection,  yet  unless  the  spirit's  guiding 
power  is  true  and  balanced,  life  will  fall  short  of 
its  best  possibilities.  Who  are  the  persons  best 
fitted  to  learn  about  this?  It  is  a  question  of  the 
child's  inner  life,  of  the  motives  and  influences 
which  have  led  to  evil,  of  the  race  tendencies 
which  are  peculiar  to  different  stages  of  youth. 
Only  those  with  sympathy  and  understanding  of 
the  childish  heart  and  mind  can  get  at  the  real 
causes  and  touch  the  inner  life  and  give  that  in- 
spiring help  which  will  tide  a  child  over  a  crisis 
in  life  and  set  him  on  the  upward  path.  Only 
those  can  be  of  use  who  believe  in  the  possibili- 
ties of  children,  who  have  real  faith  in  them, 
when  the  question  of  childhood's  needs  is  at 
issue. 

Specialized  Knowledge. — When  a  crisis  comes 
in  a  serious  illness  the  physician  most  skilled  in 
treatment  of  that  special  disease  is  called  in  as  a 
matter  of  course.  When  a  valuable  watch  needs 
repairing  we  do  not  take  it  to  a  blacksmith,  for 
it  requires  more  delicate  handling  than  he  can 
give  it.  When  a  child,  a  youth  or  a  man  goes 
wrong  he,  too,  faces  a  serious  crisis  in  life;  he, 
too,  needs  nicely  adjusted  treatment — the  treat- 
ment of  one  who  understands  human  frailty,  who 
condemns  wrongdoing,  but  who  also  is  filled 
with  sympathy  and  can  show  the  wrongdoer  a 
better  way  of  life.  The  world  has  learned  that  it 


4  THE  WAYWARD.  CHILD. 

can  not  afford  to  neglect  yellow  fever  or  small- 
pox or  tuberculosis.  It  has  learned  that  these 
diseases  are  preventable;  and  when  they  do  ap- 
pear it  has  learned  how  to  treat  them  and  so  elim- 
inate the  wasting  plagues  of  past  centuries.  The 
world  has  yet  to  learn  that  ignoring  or  improp- 
erly treating  what  have  been  considered  trifling 
offenses  of  children  are  the  greatest  contributing 
causes  for  the  increasing  work  of  courts  and 
prisons. 

Arrests  of  Children. — ^The  arrest  of  three  hun- 
dred children  a  month  in  a  single  city,  multiplied 
by  a  proportional  number  in  other  cities,  is  a 
matter  of  serious  moment  to  those  children  and 
to  the  nation.  Who  have  been  the  specialists 
dealing  with  such  cases,  diagnosing  and  treating 
them?  These  children  stand  at  a  critical  point  in 
their  lives.  It  is  the  parting  of  the  ways  for  most 
of  them — the  place  and  time  when  one  sees  the 
beginnings  of  a  criminal  career  for  many  of  them. 
It  is  a  time  when  prevention  is  still  possible, 
when  we  may  thus  check  the  ever-increasing  tide 
of  unfortunate  humanity  flooding  into  courts, 
only  to  be  passed  on  for  months  or  years  to 
houses  of  correction,  reformatories  and  prisons. 

Imitation. — For  the  careless  eye  there  is  noth- 
ing to  indicate  the  future  of  these  children.  So 
gradual  is  tlie  descent,  so  few  are  the  safeguards, 
that  only  when  the  child  is  at  the  very  verge  of 
the   precipice   has   society   noticed   his   danger. 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS    5 

Some  men  and  women  who  have  passed  through' 
the  fire  of  temptation  which  besets  youth  are  ear- 
nestly pointing  out  the  dangers  against  which 
youth  should  be  protected,  and  because  many  of 
these  are  behind  prison  bars  their  plea  for  in- 
nocent children  is  not  less  sincere  or  earnest.  No 
stronger  statement  of  the  fact  that  many  children 
take  their  first  downward  step  in  imitation  of 
those  whom  they  regard  as  ideals  of  manliness 
could  well  be  found  than  Mr.  Jack  London's  John 
Barleycorn.  This  is  a  book  which  has  distinct 
psychological  value  for  those  who  are  studying 
the  problems  of  wayward  children.  Not  until 
manhood  was  set  forth  the  real  reason  for  the 
boy's  intoxication  at  seven  years  of  age.  If  only 
the  reason  could  have  been  understood  at  the 
time,  what  years  dominated  by  low  standards 
of  manliness  would  have  been  saved  for  better 
things !  Mr.  Jack  London  has  written  a  valuable 
book  for  those  who  would  understand  some  of  the 
causes  which  are  making  many  boys  like  the 
hero  of  John  Barleycorn,  who  of  course  is  a  real, 
not  a  fictitious,  character. 

Need  for  Discernment. — The  faults  and  mis- 
deeds of  little  children  require  the  most  intelli- 
gent treatment.  To  the  fact  that  this  has  not 
been  given  is  due  much  of  adult  disorder  and 
crime.  In  the  development  of  a  life,  events  which 
seem  trifling  may  have  a  deep  influence.  To  dis- 
tinguish what  is  trivial  from  what  is  important 


6  THE  .WAYWARD  CHILD 

requires  discernment  and  knowledge,  and  these 
are  rare  because  child  nurture  is  only  beginning 
to  be  thought  of  as  a  science  of  the  greatest  value 
to  humanity.  It  is  this  because  the  very  quality 
and  character  of  the  human  race  depend  on  it,  to 
which  all  other  things  are  subservient. 

Children  in  Danger. — Who,  then,  are  some  of 
the  children  who  are  standing  at  the  parting  of 
the  ways,  needing  a  guiding  hand,  skilled  coun- 
sel, effective  inspiration?  The  little  boy  who 
plays  truant  is  not  a  criminal,  but  he  has  taken  to 
dangerous  ways.  He  deceives  and  disobeys  his 
parents  and  is  thrown  with  the  chance  compan- 
ions of  the  street.  He  needs  all  the  help  that 
can  be  given  him,  but  that  help,  to  be  effective, 
must  touch  his  own  heart  and  put  within  him  the 
desire  to  be  obedient  and  reliable  as  well  as  to 
go  to  school.  No  lasting  benefit  will  come  from 
any  other  treatment. 

The  former  disregard  of  truancy  has  been  re- 
placed by  an  elaborate  system  of  treatment.  Spe- 
cialists in  child  nature  and  child  nurture  are  ur- 
gently needed  for  effective  work  in  this  field,  as 
much  as  specialists  are  needed  for  the  treatment 
of  physical  ailments.  Such  specialists  can  only 
be  trained  by  years  of  sympathetic  living  with 
children  and  study  of  them. 

Other  Dangers. — Parents  who  permit  their 
children  to  stay  on  the  streets  after  dark,  know- 
ing nothing  of  their  companions  or  temptations. 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS    7 

are  primarily  responsible  for  many  arrests  of 
children  and  for  grave  dangers  to  them  from 
which  they  should  be  protected.  The  curfew 
law  has  been  devised  to  meet  this  menace  to  chil- 
dren, but  the  only  efifective  way  to  shield  them 
from  the  dangers  of  street  life  at  night  In  village 
or  city  is  the  universal  education  of  parents  as  to 
making  the  home  a  center  for  the  evening  life  of 
boys  and  girls,  providing  them  with  companions 
and  innocent  pleasures  there.  Parents  who  leave 
their  doors  unlocked  for  boys  or  girls  to  come 
home  when  they  choose  have  been  the  cause  of 
the  arrest  of  many  children.  The  children  who 
are  sent  to  pick  coal  off  railroad  tracks  and  who 
go  a  step  farther  and  knock  It  off  from  a  train  are 
in  need  of  attention  and  help.  The  sense  of  mine 
and  thine  needs  training.  Railroad  officials  have 
many  of  these  children  arrested  and  urge  that 
they  be  "put  away."  They  want  to  be  relieved 
of  the  trouble  they  have  been  given,  and  they 
should  be,  but  the  child  is,  without  question,  the 
most  important  consideration.  He  is  at  the  part- 
ing of  the  ways.  Is  any  one  thinking  of  his  wel- 
fare or  is  punishment  for  the  offense  the  main 
question  at  Issue?  It  Is  not  always  the  latter 
now,  but  until  recently  it  was  reform  school  or 
prison  for  these  boys. 

Cigarettes. — The  victims  of  the  cigarette  habit 
are  in  danger  of  joining  the  ranks  of  the  crimi- 
nals, for  the  habit  controls  them,  and  its  under- 


8  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

mining  effect  on  character  is  known  to  those  who 
have  given  attention  to  the  subject.  These  chil- 
dren need  protection  from  themselves.  The  child 
himself  must  be  influenced  and  trained,  for  laws 
can  be  of  no  use  without  the  added  safeguard  of 
self-control.  Is  this  a  trifle?  Not  when  one 
knows  its  results. 

The  disobedient,  uncontrolled,  lawless  child 
has  within  him  qualities  which,  unless  they  are 
checked,  must  lead  surely  downward.  They  can 
be  checked,  but  only  before  they  have  become 
fixed  habits. 

The  child  whose  mind  is  filled  with  impure 
thoughts  is  in  serious  danger  as  regards  both 
himself  and  society.  He  needs  the  help  of  one 
who  can  lead  him  to  clean  wholesome  ideals  of 
life.  He  has  gained  his  view-point  from  the  asso- 
ciations and  influences  about  him.  He  can  be 
saved  by  sympathetic  interest  and  companion- 
ship if  these  are  given  before  it  is  too  late.  It  is 
important  to  himself  and  to  the  world  that  he  re- 
ceive the  care  he  needs,  and  that  it  be  given  in 
the  right  way. 

Prevention. — Causes  no  more  serious  than 
these  just  enumerated  are  the  beginnings  which, 
if  ignored  or  unwisely  treated,  lead  many  into 
criminal  lives.  Care,  encouragement,  treatment 
and  help  at  this  period  have  greater  results  than 
at  any  other  time  in  life.  In  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  it  is  possible  with  such  care  to  check  crime 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS    9 

effectively  at  its  source.  If  during  the  impres- 
sionable years  of  child  life  all  were  guarded  and 
guided  with  intelligent  sympathy  and  insight  into 
child  nature  there  would  be  few  who  would 
choose  the  path  of  crime.  It  is  just  here  that  one 
finds  the  ways  dividing.  It  is  here  that  whole 
lives  can  be  transformed  by  the  man  or  woman 
who,  through  delicate,  sympathetic,  patient, 
friendly,  loving  touch,  can  reach  the  hearts  and 
souls  of  children. 

Children  Not  Criminals. — A  wide  experience 
with  children  who  have  been  considered  the  very 
worst  that  a  large  city  can  furnish  has  proved 
conclusively  to  me  that  children  called  burglars, 
thieves,  incorrigibles,  truants  and  runaways  are 
not  hopeless  criminals,  nor  are  they  in  their 
make-up  dififerent  from  children  in  happier  cir- 
cumstances. They  are  the  victims  of  conditions 
for  which  they  are  not  responsible.  They  need 
all  the  help,  all  the  sympathy  and  thoughtful 
treatment  that  can  be  given  them.  No  expense 
is  too  great,  no  work  is  too  hard,  that  will  turn 
erring  feet  toward  the  upward  path.  The  dirty, 
ragged,  rough,  unattractive  bit  of  humanity 
whom  no  one  seems  to  love  is  one  of  God's  lit- 
tle ones  of  whom  He  said:  *Tt  is  not  the  will 
of  your  Father  in  Heaven  that  one  of  these  little 
ones  shall  perish."  He  gave  the  children  to  our 
special  keeping.  It  is  His  work  we  do  when 
we  strive  to  help  them  to  live  according  to  His 


10  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

laws.  It  Is  with  His  spirit  of  infinite  patience 
and  love  that  we  must  work  for  them  if  we  ex- 
pect to  accomplish  the  work  He  has  committed 
to  us,  that  of  so  guiding  and  guarding  His  little 
ones  in  their  weakness  and  when  their  falter- 
ing steps  lead  them  astray  that  each  one  may 
become  a  jewel  in  His  kingdom.  With  the  recog- 
nition that  a  divine  trust  has  been  committed 
to  us  for  doing  a  work  that  will  count  to  all 
eternity,  the  labor  for  childhood  assumes  an  im- 
portance beyond  all  else.  Can  the  parents 
blessed  with  children  whose  lives  are  good  for- 
get those  other  little  ones  who  are  less  fortu- 
nate but  are  no  less  children  of  the  Heavenly 
Father?  Does  not  their  very  helplessness  and 
misery  and  wrongdoing  constitute  an  appeal  to 
every  unselfish  heart  for  such  help  that  they 
may  live  up  to  their  highest  possibilities? 

How  All  Can  Help. — ^There  are  many  ways 
in  which  all  can  give  help.  Every  father  and 
mother  can  and  should  try  to  do  something  for 
the  "bad  boy"  of  the  neighborhood — what  they 
would  wish  to  have  done  for  their  own  boy  were 
he  in  the  same  condition.  No  child  should  ever 
be  designated  "bad"  or  "wicked."  An  act  may 
be  so  designated,  but  to  brand  children  in  such 
a  way  causes  irreparable  harm  and  takes  away 
a  valid  incentive  for  doing  right.  It  grates  on 
the  ear  of  any  one  who  knows  children  to  hear 
them    called    "criminals"    and    "incorrigibles." 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS  11 

Such  terms  are  not  applicable  to  children,  be- 
cause they  indicate  a  fixed  condition,  whereas  in 
children  the  character  is  in  a  formative  state 
and  susceptible  to  change. 

The  First  Offense. — A  child's  or  a  youth's 
first  offense  is  a  danger-signal  which  if  disre- 
garded may  bring  serious  consequences.  Par- 
ents have  not  realized  where  these  apparently 
trivial  transgressions  usually  lead.  Many  admit 
that  they  are  unable  to  cope  with  their  children 
and  eagerly  seek  to  turn  the  responsibility  over 
to  other  hands.  The  children  who  are  standing 
at  the  parting  of  the  ways  in  thousands  of  homes 
to-day  are  normal  children,  only  needing  the 
tender  guidance  and  care  which  parents  can  best 
give  them.  Care  and  moral  education  would 
surely  be  given  by  conscientious  parents  if  only 
they  realized  the  result  of  neglect  at  this  crucial 
time.  Morally  neglected  children  are  not  pe- 
culiar to  any  class. 

The  Parent's  First  Duty.— The  father  so  ab- 
sorbed in  business  that  he  has  no  time  to  devote 
to  the  training  of  his  children,  and  the  mother 
so  occupied  with  housekeeping  and  social  duties 
that  she  does  not  attempt  to  know  where  her 
children  are  or  what  they  are  doing — these  are 
guilty  of  parental  neglect  in  worse  degree  than 
the  mother  who  must  leave  her  children  to  earn 
a  livelihood.  To  them  suddenly  there  comes  a 
sad  awakening.     The  child  has  found  compan- 


12  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

ions  and  influences  never  dreamed  of  by  his  par- 
ents. It  was  not  his  fault  that  he  found  them. 
In  the  most  impressionable  period  of  life,  at 
a  time  when  careful  parents  would  provide  safe 
occupation  and  amusement  for  their  children, 
careless  parents  let  them  run  loose.  When  care- 
ful parents  would  learn  where  their  child  was, 
careless  parents  are  satisfied  if  he  comes  to  meals 
and  is  in  at  bedtime.  Of  the  world  outside  into 
which  the  children  go  and  of  the  acquaintances 
made  there  no  parent  can  afford  to  be  ignorant. 
The  powers  of  evil  are  there  to  tempt  them  and 
to  lead  them  downward.  In  the  pursuit  of 
pleasure  boys  or  girls  are  innocently  led  into 
places  from  which  their  parents  might  have 
guarded  them.  It  is  time  parents  knew  all  the 
temptations  that  organized  forces  of  evil  place 
before  youth  in  street,  school,  shop  or  college. 
Parents  must  combat  these  organized  forces 
which  seek  to  ruin  youth.  The  children  can  not 
do  it;  their  characters  are  still  unformed;  but 
parents  should  aid  children  in  forming  charac- 
ter and  in  keeping  them  from  temptation  until 
they  are  old  enough  to  resist  it. 

Knowledge  of  Conditions. — Parents  can  never 
do  their  full  duty  for  their  own  children  until 
they  inform  themselves  of  outside  conditions  af- 
fecting all  children,  until  they  make  it  their  busi- 
ness to  see  that  all  children  have  proper  treat- 
ment and  proper  protection.     Only  when  sym- 


AT  THE  PARTING  OF  THE  WAYS  13 

pathetic,  individual  and  intelligent  guidance  of 
each  child  standing  at  a  critical  place  In  life  Is 
provided  will  the  world  see  a  diminution  In 
crime.  In  helping  these  children  at  this  particu- 
lar time  to  a  true  ideal  toward  which  they  should 
shape  their  lives  the  greatest  possible  service 
can  be  rendered  them.  This  Ideal  can  be  no 
weak,  namby-pamby  affair — it  must  be  vital,  full 
of  red  blood,  pointing  the  way  to  a  real  goal 
ahead.  Race  tendencies  must  be  understood. 
The  spirit  of  comradeship  and  the  spirit  of  ad- 
venture can  not  be  crushed,  but  these  can  be 
guided  Into  constructive  and  useful  channels  in- 
stead of  being  allowed  to  drift  into  destructive 
and  evil  ones. 

Is  this  a  dream  or  a  vision?  "In  the  image  of 
God  created  He  them."  To  keep  this  untar- 
nished, to  direct  them  ever  upward,  is  the  great 
purpose  of  life.. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE    CRIMES    THAT    FILL    THE    PRISONS 

MEN,  women  and  children  who  are  serving 
sentences  in  prison  are  there  for  burglary, 
fighting,  assault  and  battery,  vagrancy,  bigamy, 
shooting  dice,  rape,  receiving  stolen  goods,  hom- 
icide, murder,  embezzlement,  disorderly  conduct, 
trespassing,  deserting  from  the  army,  carrying 
concealed  weapons,  non-support,  highway  rob- 
bery, larceny,  gambling,  forgery,  arson,  man- 
slaughter, drunkenness,  felony,  adultery,  abduc- 
tion, passing  counterfeit  money,  riding  a  bicycle 
on  a  sidewalk,  stealing  rides  on  trains. 

Crime  Against  Property. — Crime  against  prop- 
erty, or  in  other  words  the  violation  of  the  com- 
mandment, "Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  brings  more 
than  half  of  our  prison  inmates  into  their  sad 
predicament.  Whether  called  petit  larceny, 
grand  larceny,  receiving  stolen  goods,  picking 
pockets,  embezzlement,  burglary,  highway  rob- 
bery or  forgery,  the  desire  to  get  what  belongs 
to  others  is  the  motive,  and  while  the  law  has 
given  many  names  to  the  offense  it  is  in  each 
case  a  violation  of  the  command,  *'Thou  shalt 
not  steal,"  and  the  simple  term  that  covers  all 

14 


CRIMES  THAT  FILL  PRISONS       15 

varieties  is  stealing-.  More  than  half  the  work  of 
every  criminal  court  consists  in  the  prosecution 
of  thefts  of  one  sort  or  another,  while  half  of 
the  space  necessary  in  prisons  and  reform 
schools  and  half  the  cost  of  their  maintenance 
can  be  attributed  to  dishonesty. 

Crime  Against  the  Person. — ^The  remaining 
crimes  are  against  the  person  and  are  even  more 
serious.  Manslaughter,  homicide  and  murder, 
seduction,  bigamy  and  adultery  are  crimes  which 
give  the  courts  half  their  business  and  the  pris- 
ons half  their  inmates.  Liquor  is  responsible 
for  a  large  proportion  of  these  crimes.  Most 
murders  are  not  premeditated,  but  are  the  re- 
sult of  liquor  and  consequent  loss  of  self-control. 

The  causes  of  crime  given  by  prison  inmates 
are:  No  work — need  of  money;  bad  company 
— drink;  brutal  fathers;  domestic  troubles;  bad 
books  and  cigarettes;  too  much  money;  fast 
women;  gambling;  boyish  pranks;  hunger — • 
lack  of  home  training,  parental  neglect ;  institu- 
tion life  in  childhood;  instruction  in  stealing  by 
older  people ;  cocaine  and  other  drugs. 

A  study  of  the  crimes  for  which  all  the  vast 
machinery  of  arrest,  prosecution  and  punish- 
ment is  maintained  shows  that  its  necessity 
would  rapidly  decrease  were  it  possible  to  give 
to  youth  the  desire  and  purpose  to  be  honest, 
to  teach  self-control,  to  impart  pure  standards 
of  life,  and  to  abolish  liquor. 


16  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Parental  Neglect. — Prevention  lies  far  back  of 
the  day  when  the  youth  is  brought  before  the 
bar  of  justice.  No  external  measures  will  count 
unless  it  is  possible  to  put  into  the  hearts  of 
children  the  desire  to  do  right  and  patiently 
teach  them  how  to  do  it.  The  parents'  omis- 
sion of  instilling  into  the  child  the  fundamental 
principles  of  life  is  the  chief  cause  of  crime  in 
later  years  as  revealed  in  the  life-stories  of 
prison  inmates. 

Released  Prisoners. — Nearly  all  who  are  in 
prison  for  their  first  term  express  the  determina- 
tion not  to  be  there  again.  Nearly  all  who  have 
served  several  terms  state  that  they  tried  to  do 
right  when  released  after  the  first  term,  but  the 
obstacles  were  too  great.  Persecution  and  sur- 
veillance by  the  police  are  given  as  reasons  for 
second  imprisonment.  "If  more  were  trusted 
more  would  reform,"  says  one  inmate.  Others 
say:  "After  release  I  was  picked  up  on  suspi- 
cion"; and  "the  greatest  difficulty  met  is  the 
stain  of  being  once  imprisoned."  "Could  not  get 
work  on  account  of  previous  prison  term,"  is  the 
testimony  of  many.  "A  jail  reference  is  no 
good,"  says  one,  "we  turn  to  drink  and  back  we 
go."  "No  work,  no  money,  no  friends,  no 
trade,"  is  the  fourfold  reason  given  by  numbers 
who  are  serving  second  or  third  terms.  The  re- 
leased prisoner,  unless  he  has  friends  to  whom 
he  can  go,  has  very  little  chance  for  establishing 


CRIMES  THAT  FILL  PRISONS       17 

himself.  The  five  or  ten  dollars  given  to  him 
on  release  are  soon  gone  and  unless  he  has 
strength  of  mind  enough  to  starve  rather  than 
steal  he  is  often  forced  to  do  the  latter  to  sus- 
tain life. 

Youthful  Prisoners. — Who  are  these  released 
prisoners  of  a  single  term?  Most  of  them  are 
youths  who  have  been  guilty  of  a  serious  fault, 
who  have  suffered  for  it  and  who  need  help  to 
reestablish  themselves.  The  state  for  its  own 
protection  should  devise  some  plan  for  such  re- 
establishment.  The  belief  that  prison  inmates 
are  principally  of  foreign  birth  is  not  correct. 
It  is  from  among  American  citizens  that  the 
prisons  draw  their  largest  quota  of  inmates. 
The  suspended  sentence  and  probation  would, 
under  proper  administration,  reduce  the  com- 
mitments to  prisons  by  nearly  one-half.  It  is 
probable  that  most  of  those  benefiting-  by  sus- 
pended sentence  and  probation  would  be  saved 
from  becoming  involuntary  professional  crim- 
inals. The  prompt  trial  of  every  offender  would 
save  many  who  now  wait  weeks  and  months  in 
jail  before  the  courts  reach  their  cases.  These 
weeks  and  months  of  prison  association  have 
often  led  to  making  criminals  out  of  those  who 
originally  might  be  innocent. 

Types  of  Offenders. — A  young  man  of  twenty- 
seven  serving  a  prison  sentence  of  seven  years 
had  wanted  to  go  to  a  circus.    At  that  time  he 


18  THE  .WAYWARD  CHILD 

was  sixteen.  He  had  no  money  and  so  stole 
junk,  which  he  sold.  He  was  arrested  and  put 
in  the  county  jail  for  six  months  while  he 
awaited  trial.  "There,"  he  writes,  'T  heard  all 
kinds  of  crimes  planned,  also  how  to  do  certain 
jobs.     I  got  my  first  start  as  a  criminal  there." 

Another  youth  of  twenty-four  serving  a  sec- 
ond term  in  prison  says:  "There  are  two  ways 
of  making  a  criminal — by  letting  him  go  and  by 
imprisonment.  I  am  a  criminal  because  I  was 
thrown  among  criminals  during  my  imprison- 
ment, whose  whole  talk  was  of  crime  and  crim- 
inals. I  became  imbued  with  these  things,  and 
can  truthfully  say  that  had  I  not  been  sent  to 
prison  for  my  first  offense  I  would  never  have 
broken  the  law  again.  My  reputation  was  taken, 
so  what  was  the  use  of  trying  to  do  right?" 

These  are  typical  instances  of  the  experiences 
which  have  been  the  lot  of  many  youths. 

Influence  of  Jails. — The  need  for  a  place  sep- 
arate from  convicted  prisoners  for  those  who 
are  awaiting  trial  is  one  that  should  not  be  over- 
looked. Attention  to  this  matter  would  help  in 
preventing  the  making  of  criminals  by  taking 
away  influences  and  acquaintances  which  are 
specially  dangerous  for  first  offenders.  Six 
months  may  be  an  exceptionally  long  period  for- 
one  to  await  trial,  but  little  children  have  been 
detained  as  witnesses  for  that  length  of  time. 
The  law's  delays  are  often  a  serious  handicap 


CRIMES  THAT  FILL  PRISONS       19 

to  the  future  of  those  who  are  deprived  of  lib- 
erty. And  the  welfare  of  the  youth  in  prison  is 
synonymous  with  the  welfare  of  the  entire  com- 
munity. 

Evil  Contagious. — In  the  eyes  of  the  law  all 
prisoners  are  innocent  until  proved  guilty.  To 
subject  these  untried  prisoners  to  all  the  asso- 
ciations and  conditions  pertaining  to  those  who 
have  been  sentenced  is  a  prolific  cause  of  in- 
creasing the  ranks  of  criminals.  Witnesses  are 
often  kept  in  prison  unless  they  are  able  to 
guarantee  their  appearance  in  court  when  want- 
ed. The  untried  prisoner,  the  prisoners  sen- 
tenced for  five,  ten  or  thirty  days,  those  serving 
longer  sentences — all  alike  are  subjected  to  the 
same  surroundings  and  treatment.  When  it  is 
realized  that  evil  is  as  contagious  as  smallpox, 
and  that  it  is  as  serious  a  detriment  to  the  world, 
greater  care  will  surely  be  taken  to  guard  those 
who  are  in  the  clutches  of  the  law  from  all  harm- 
ful associations  and  possibilities  of  contamina- 
tion. 

Typical  Instances. — One  youth  of  twenty-two 
years  states  that  he  has  read  over  a  thousand 
books  since  he  was  sixteen,  covering  many  sub- 
jects. His  parents  died  early  and  after  their 
death  he  was  sent  to  a  protectory.  Later  he 
was  returned  to  the  protectory  on  account  of 
crime.  After  release  he  was  alone  in  the  world 
with  no  home,  no  friends  and  no  money.     He 


20  JHE  .WAYWARD  CHILD 

stole  and  was  sent  to  prison  for  six  years.  He 
says:  "I  have  read  Judge  Ben  B,  Lindsey's 
Beast  and  the  Jungle.  The  secret  of  achieve- 
ment is  to  get  the  child  offenders  before  they 
enter  any  home  or  reform  school.  One  kind 
word  is  better  than  spending  a  thousand  years 
in  the  Christian  hell  as  a  punishment.  Ah! 
Judge  Lindsey,  my  only  desire  is  that  I  might 
have  met  a  man  like  you  years  ago — life  would 
have  been  different." 

An  American  youth  of  twenty-three  writes: 
"I  was  arrested  for  stealing  when  I  was  eight 
years  old.  I  submit  that  if  somebody  had  placed 
before  me  for  an  example  some  one  who  had 
good  moral  courage  and  I  could  have  associated 
in  his  or  her  company  frequently  it  would  have 
overcome  my  evil  inclinations.  I  was  sent  to  the 
reformatory  for  five  years  then,  and  am  sen- 
tenced to  prison  for  five  years  now." 

This  boy  makes  an  appeal  which  indicates  the 
fundamental  need  of  most  children  who  do 
wrong.  The  spectacle  of  what  constitutes  real 
manhood  is  something  that  wayward  boys  may 
never  have  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet. 

Another  youth  twenty  years  old  writes:  "If 
it  wasn't  for  the  reformatory  I  wouldn't  be  in 
prison  now.  I  have  heard  and  read  much 
about  the  reformation  of  criminals  and  I  want 
to  say  that  there  is  only  one  way  to  go  about  it, 
and  that  way  is  shown  by  the  Honorable  Ben 


.CRIMES  THAT  FILL  PRISONS       21 

B.  Lindsey."  This  boy  had  the  habit  of  read- 
ing "every  book"  he  could  "lay  hands  on."  He 
had  a  good  home,  but  was  allowed  to  spend  his 
evenings  on  street  corners  and  in  saloons,  and 
at  the  age  of  nine  years  he  was  arrested  for 
"assault"  because  he  was  fighting  with  another 
boy.  This  led  to  his  being  sent  to  a  reforma- 
tory for  eighteen  months. 

A  Warden's  Opinion. — Robert  J.  McKenty, 
who  has  been  Warden  of  the  Eastern  Peniten- 
tiary (Pennsylvania)  for  five  years  and  who  be- 
fore that  was  Superintendent  of  a  House  of  Cor- 
rection, Director  of  the  Department  of  Public 
Safety  (Pennsylvania)  and  a  member  of  the  po- 
lice force,  has  had  a  wider  experience  with  crime 
than  falls  to  the  lot  of  most  men.  His  belief 
in  the  possibilities  of  these  outcasts  of  society 
has  never  faltered.  He  says:  "I  have  dealt  with 
some  criminals  in  my  time  and  I  have  sent  some 
to  the  gallows,  but  even  those  who  went  to  the 
gallows  went  there  without  an  ill  feeling  in  their 
hearts  for  me.  I  have  always  done  my  duty,  but 
I  have  never  found  it  necessary  to  do  it  viciously. 

"If  you  look  at  the  other  fellow  from  an  out- 
side point  of  view  you  may  never  learn  to  un- 
derstand him  and  may  have  little  sympathy  for 
him.  But  if  you  put  yourself  in  his  place  it  is 
different.  There  are  lots  of  things  you  can  un- 
derstand then. 

"Sentiment?     Well,  it  is  a  pretty  old  senti- 


22  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

ment  to  do  unto  others  as  you  would  have  them 
do  to  you.  Nothing  radically  new  about  that,  is 
there?  That's  all  I  am  trying  to  do  here.  When 
I  figure  out  what  I  would  like  them  to  do  to 
me  if  I  were  in  their  place  I  have  no  trouble  in 
figuring  out  what  I  ought  to  do  for  them,  and  I 
guess  I  have  had  as  much  to  do  with  prisoners 
as  any  of  them  have. 

"A  whole  lot  depends  on  whose  foot  the  shoe 
is  on.  I  have  noticed  some  of  these  fellows  who 
speak  about  sentiment  do  not  object  so  much 
to  it  when  it  works  their  way.  When  some 
one  near  them — brother,  sister,  son  or  daughter 
— or  some  one  dear  to  them  comes  into  this  in- 
stitution, or  any  other  institution  like  it,  they 
don't  say  they  have  no  use  for  sentiment  and 
that  nothing  can  be  done  to  save  these  people 
and  that  it  is  no  use  trying.  Oh,  no,  their  point 
of  view  changes  at  once.  Then  they  say  there 
is  use,  that  something  can  be  done  for  that  one 
case  of  their  own,  that  it  can  be  done  and  must 
be  done.  They  grasp  quickly  enough  then  at 
sentimentalism  or  any  other  *ism'  that  comes 
to  hand. 

"But  remember  that  everybody  in  here  is  dear 
to  somebody  who  thinks  there  is  some  use  in 
trying,  and  that  something  ought  to  be  done  to 
save  the  one  dear  to  them.  And  isn't  it  worth 
while  trying,  even  if  we  save  only  one  single 


CRIMES  THAT  FILL  PRISONS       23 

one  of  the  whole  lot?  Any  human  life  is  always 
worth  saving  if  it  can  be  done.  At  a  big  fire, 
with  a  human  life  endangered  in  the  flames,  do 
we  stop  to  consider  whether  or  not  the  life  is 
worth  while,  whether  or  not  the  man  is  of  some 
account,  brainy,  talented,  refined  or  cultured? 
Of  course  not.  It  is  a  life ;  that's  all.  And  some- 
body rushes  in,  at  the  danger  of  his  own  life, 
and  saves  the  man.  And  the  rescuer  is  a  hero, 
no  matter  what  kind  of  man's  life  he  has  saved. 
He  saved  a  life,  and  that's  enough.  That's  all 
we  are  trying"  to  do  here — save  lives,  not  crush 
them. 

"Sentiment,  is  it?  Well,  look  at  it  from  the 
business  point  of  view:  I  used  to  work  in  the 
gas  works  before  I  entered  the  police  service, 
and  in  those  days  we  had  all  kinds  of  trouble  in 
getting  rid  of  our  by-products,  coal-tar  and  the 
other  products  that  we  thought  were  worthless. 
We  threw  them  into  the  sewers  and  into  the 
river  then — threw  them  away  to  get  rid  of  them. 
It  was  just  ignorance  that  made  us  do  that  in 
the  old  days.  We  know  now  that  some  of  those 
by-products  we  used  to  throw  away  were  more 
valuable  than  the  gas  we  made.  You  don't  find 
any  gas  companies  throwing  away  their  by- 
products now. 

"Well,  lawbreakers  are  the  by-products  of  hu- 
manity.    What  are  we  going  to  do  with  them — 


24  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

throw  them  away  or  get  the  best  out  of  them 
we  can?  Get  the  best  out  of  them  we  can,  of 
course.  Reclaim  them,  refine  them,  get  out  of 
the  by-products  all  we  can.  That  is  good  busi- 
ness economy  in  penitentiaries  as  well  as  in  gas 
companies.  What  benefit  is  it  to  society  to  shut 
a  man  up  for  two,  three  or  four  years  at  great 
expense  and  then  send  him  out  into  society  again 
worse  than  he  was  when  he  entered  the  peni- 
tentiary? If  society  is  ever  to  get  any  benefit 
from  its  vast  and  expensive  penal  system  it  must 
come  through  reclamation  work.  And,  believe 
me,  humanity's  by-product  has  just  as  valuable 
material  concealed  in  it  as  the  by-product  of  the 
gas  companies.  It  is  well  worth  reclaiming.  The 
trouble  with  a  large  percentage  of  people  in  here 
is  merely  that  they  got  a  wrong  start.  Coal-tar 
never  had  a  square  deal  as  long  as  we  merely 
dumped  it  in  the  sewers.  It  took  somebody  to 
pick  coal-tar  up  and  analyze  it  to  find  out  how 
valuable  it  was.  Lawbreakers  never  got  a  square 
deal  by  merely  being  hustled  from  one  jail  to  an- 
other. You've  got  to  take  them  up  and  analyze 
them  to  find  out  what  is  in  them  and  then  give 
them  a  new  start. 

"Now,  where  is  that  work  to  be  done?  Out 
in  the  street?  Down  in  the  slums?  Or  isn't  it 
rather  to  be  done  in  here  while  these  men  are 
confined?  I  am  satisfied  that  my  system  works 
out  and  that  it  pays." 


CRIMES  THAT  FILL  PRISONS       25 

PRISON    INMATES    STATE    CAUSES    OF    THEIR 
CONDITIONS. 

German,  twenty-three:  "Having  no  friends 
and  not  being  able  to  obtain  work  I  was  forced 
to  beg  or  starve.  If  there  were  no  gambHng 
houses  in  New  York  where  one  can  stay  day 
or  night  I  would  not  be  here  to-day.  Not  hav- 
ing my  parents  here  and  having  made  acquaint- 
ance with  many  crooks  have  helped  to  bring  me 
where  I  am." 

Austrian,  twenty-six:  "Poor,  hungry;  no 
friends  to  give  me  advice.  If  I  had  known  how 
to  speak  English  when  I  came  to  this  country 
it  would  have  helped  me." 

American,  twenty-eight:  "Hungry  and  out  of 
work.  Committed  highway  robbery  and  was 
sent  to  prison." 

American,  eighteen:  "Left  home  at  nine. 
Was  in  orphan  asylum.  Out  of  work  and  stole. 
If  I  had  had  employment  and  a  home  and  par- 
ents to  advise  me  it  would  have  helped  me." 

An  American,  aged  twenty-seven,  was  out  of 
work  and  wanted  money,  and  so  stole.  He  says: 
"To  have  steady  work  would  be  the  greatest 
help  to  live  an  honest  life." 


CHAPTER  III 

HOW    HOMES    PROMOTE    CRIMINALITY PARENTS^ 

MISTAKES 

A  SMALL  boy  was  brought  into  court  by  his 
father  and  mother.  He  was  so  small  the 
judge  could  barely  see  him  as  he  stood  behind 
the  bar  of  the  court  room.  ^^Judge,"  said  the 
mother,  "I  want  you  to  send  Tom  to  the  reform 
school.  I  can't  do  anything  with  him.  He  runs 
away  all  the  time." 

Parents'  Misunderstanding. — The  judge  looked 
at  the  large  woman  who  so  frankly  confessed 
her  inability  to  cope  with  the  mite  of  humanity 
before  her.  He  looked  at  the  father,  who  also 
asserted  that  the  boy  was  beyond  their  control. 
Then  he  said:  "I'm  not  going  to  commit  any 
eight-year-old  child  to  the  reform  school.  You 
will  have  to  find  some  way  to  take  care  of  your 
boy.  Perhaps  the  probation  officer  can  help  you 
find  the  reason  why  the  boy  will  not  stay  at 
home." 

A  gentle-faced  woman  stepped  forward  and 
said:  "Your  Honor,  I  have  talked  much  with 
Tom  in  the  last  few  days.  He  says,  *My  father 
and  mother  don't  love  me.     They  scold  me  all 

26 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  27 

the  time.  They  only  love  my  little  sister.'  Judge, 
I  think  if  the  boy's  father  and  mother  would 
show  more  love  for  Tom,  and  would  encourage 
him  more  instead  of  finding  fault  with  him  all 
the  time  he  would  not  want  to  run  away." 

Through  kindly  sympathetic  questioning  the 
probation  officer  had  discovered  the  childish  rea- 
son which  made  the  boy  leave  home ;  he  wished 
for  the  love  and  sympathy  lavished  on  his  baby 
sister.  He  only  knew  that  for  him  instead  there 
was  scolding  and  faultfinding  and  even  whip- 
ping. Real  love  probably  lay  back  of  the  fault- 
finding of  this  boy's  parents,  but  by  scolding  him 
and  at  the  same  time  withholding  all  expression 
of  love  they  lost  the  strongest  lever  one  can  have 
in  guiding  children. 

The  judge  said :  ''Take  your  boy  home.  Let 
him  see  that  you  care  for  him,  make  home  happy 
for  him,  and  see  if  you  can't  keep  him  at  home." 

With  the  promised  help  of  the  probation  offi- 
cer, who  had  won  the  confidence  of  the  child, 
he  was  taken  home. 

This  instance  is  typical  of  many.  It  is  im- 
possible to  deal  intelligently  or  effectively  with 
any  child  unless  first  the  child  is  understood  and 
the  reasons  for  his  conduct  are  learned.  The 
reasons  once  discovered,  some  remedy  may  then 
be  found. 

Why  Children  Run  Away. — One  of  the  most 
common  causes   of   runaway   children   and   so- 


28  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

called  incorrigibles  lies  in  the  belief  children 
come  to  have  that  they  are  not  loved  and  that 
no  one  cares  for  them.  Fear  of  their  parents  soon 
results  from  this.  Finally  w^hen  after  angry 
scoldings  and  repeated  assertions  of  the  child's 
w^ickedness  the  mother  op^iily  4eclares,  "I  can 
do  nothing  with  Tom,"  she  has  built  up  between 
herself  and  her  child  a  wall  of  separation  which 
rises  higher  and  higher  as  the  years  pass.  Even 
in  good  homes  with  really  loving  parents  this 
lack  of  confidence,  arising  from  the  parents'  fail- 
ure to  express  their  love,  has  been  the  cause  of 
making  many  wayward  children.  The  baby  boy 
who  is  used  to  petting  and  love  comes  with  time 
to  the  awkward  period  when  everything  he  does 
seems  to  inconvenience  some  one.  He  craves 
love  still — he  starves  without  it,  though  not  for 
worlds  would  he  admit  this ;  and  when  he  hears 
on  all  sides  constant  assertions  of  his  badness 
he  loses  theMncentive  to  try  to  do  right  and  de- 
cides that  he  i;night  as  well  live  up  to  his  repu- 
tation. A  certain  man  holding  a  high  position 
in  the  world,  and  who  had  always  had  a  good 
home,  has  said  that  he  was  twenty-four  years 
old  before  he  knew  that  his  father  loved  him. 
Doubtless  the  same  thing  is  true  in  the  cases  of 
a  great  many  people.  It  is  impossible  to  drive 
children  into  goodness;  only  through  love  can 
they   be   led    step    by    step;   only   through    the 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  29 

knowledge  that  correction  comes  from  love  can 
it  ever  count  for  anything-. 

Was  This  Boy  a  Vagrant? — A  boy  typical  of 
many  v^ho  are  arrested  was  found  by  the  police 
sleeping  beside  a  barrel  in  a  vacant  lot.  This 
was  not  the  first  time  he  had  been  found  doing 
the  same  thing.  The  policeman  thought  the  boy 
should  be  classed  as  a  vagrant  and  asked  that  he 
be  sent  to  a  reform  school. 

"Why  do  you  run  away  from  home?"  asked 
the  judge. 

"My  mxOther  is  dead  and  my  father  and  I  live 
in  one  room.  He  comes  home  drunk  sometimes, 
and  then  he  beats  me  and  kicks  me  out.  How 
can  I  help  sleeping  out?  I  don't  want  to  go  to 
a  reform  school.  I  want  to  take  care  of  my- 
self." 

The  judge  did  not  agree  with  the  policeman 
that  the  boy  was  a  vagrant.  A  home  was  found 
for  him  and  also  work  which  would  enable  him 
to  pay  his  board.  Friendly  help  and  sympathy 
were  given,  and  instead  of  becoming  an  expense 
to  the  state  this  boy  was  rescued  and  set  on  his 
own  feet. 

In  this  case  also  a  good  reason  was  found  for 
the  boy's  misdemeanor.  Would  not  an  older 
person  have  done  the  same  thing  in  a  similar  sit- 
uation? A  great  many  boys  are  arrested  as  va- 
grants because  they  are  found  sleeping  out,  ap- 


30  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

parently  homeless  or  runaways.  In  each  case 
the  only  way  to  give  real  help  is  to  discover  the 
cause,  by  winning  the  child's  confidence  to  learn 
from  him  why  he  is  sleeping  out  and  living  as  a 
vagrant.  With  many  of  these  boys  some  offense 
has  been  committed  on  account  of  which  they 
dread  punishment  and  so  are  afraid  to  go  home. 

Drunken  Parents. — The  number  of  children 
who  are  forced  to  leave  home  because  of 
drunken  parents  mounts  up  into  thousands 
every  year.  These  children  are  thrust  on  the 
world  without  friends,  without  love,  without 
care.  Some  of  them  drift  into  institutions,  some 
drift  into  a  life  of  vagrancy.  No  one  can  look 
over  the  answers  of  prison  inmates  concerning 
their  early  lives  without  being  struck  by  the 
large  proportion  of  these  men  and  women  who 
were  deprived  in  childhood  of  parental  love  and 
care.  It  is  from  these  unloved  children  that 
crime  receives  its  largest  number  of  recruits. 
Neglected  and  without  any  personal  touch  of 
human  affection  in  their  lives,  it  is  but  natural 
that  they  become  a  menace  to  society. 

Craving  for  Love. — One  man  in  prison  whose 
mother  died  when  he  was  seven  writes  i^-^'^If  I 
could  have  kept  my  mother  until  I  was  grown 
it  would  have  helped  me  most  to  live  an  honest 
life."  Every  child,  indeed,  has  need  of  the  love 
and  patient  guidance  of  a  good  mother,  one  who 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  31 

can  show  her  love  and  yet  with  firmness  correct 
her  child's  faults. 

A  prisoner  who  has  served  many  terms,  when 
asked  about  his  early  life  and  the  beginning  of 
his  wrongdoing,  wrote :  "If  my  mother  had 
lived,  if  I  had  had  some  one  to  love  when  little 
— I  received  enpugh  corporal  punishment  to  sub- 
due a  dozen  boys; — things  would  have  been  dif- 
ferent. My  guardian  meant  well,  but  he  showed 
no  love;  there  was  iki  one  to  tell  troubles  to; 
he  was  a  godly  man,  btit  too  severe.  He  in- 
spired fear,  and  fear  is  a  b^d  ^*^^^*i^t^o^  ^^^  ^^' 
ture  happiness."  >. 

Again  we  see  here  the  cause  which  sends 
many  children  on  the  downward  path,  severity 
which  repels  and  does  not  correct,  strictness  un^- 
tempered  by  love,  or  at  all  events  by  the  expres- 
sion of  any  love.  Many  who  are  prison  inmates 
give  such  statements  as  these  when  asked  about 
their  early  lives:  "Parents  divorced";  "Mother 
died  when  I  was  six  months  old";  "Mother  died 
when  I  was  seven";  "Never  had  a  home  or  went 
to  school";  "Drinking  father,  mother  out  work- 
ing"; "Father  died,  mother  was  employed  out- 
side." Is  it  a  child's  fault  that  his  parents  have 
died,  that  they  drink?  Is  it  a  child's  fault  that 
he  is  left  homeless  and  unprotected?  Proper 
care  given  in  early  years  would  in  nearly  every 
case  have  made  the  lives  of  these  prisoners  use- 


32  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

ful  and  honorable.  It  is  not  enough  to  punish 
children  for  vagrancy  by  condemning  them  to 
institutions.  Such  children  need,  more  than 
food  and  clothing,  inspiration  toward  good  liv- 
ing. They  need  the  personal  touch  of  good  men 
and  women  with  love  in  their  hearts,  a  need  im- 
possible of  complete  satisfaction  in  an  institution 
where  hundreds  are  massed  together.  Homes 
there  are  which  are  childless  and  lonely,  but 
there  has  been  no  connecting  link  between  the 
lonely  homes  and  the  lonely  children.  Homes 
there  are  where  the  children  have  grown  and 
gone  out  into  the  world,  where  places  might  be 
found  for  homeless  ones,  but  there  has  been  no 
connecting  link  between  the  two.  Society  de- 
crees that  these  destitute  children  shall  have  all 
conveniences  and  comforts,  good  food  and  a 
good  education — but  good  mothers  and  fathers 
are  left  out.  In  institutions  personal  knowledge 
of  the  heart-life  of  each  child  is  manifestly  Im- 
possible. With  all  the  rest  the  very  thing  that 
the  child  craves — personal  love,  personal  confi- 
dence— can  not  be  given,  and  the  results  of  such 
a  system  do  not  save  the  children. 

Necessity  for  Mothering. — The  physical  ne- 
cessity for  the  love  and  mothering  of  babies  has 
been  proved.  In  large  infant  asylums  where  a 
dozen  or  more  babies  have  been  bathed,  fed  and 
well  cared  for  physically  by  a  single  nurse  the 
death  rate  has  been  so  large  that  managers  have 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  33 

made  the  experiment  of  boarding  out  the  babies, 
putting  each  one  in  the  hands  of  a  good  motherly 
woman.  Wherever  this  has  been  tried  the 
change  has  been  magical.  The  death  rate  has 
decreased  by  many  per  cent.  The  babies  pined 
for  mothering  which  they  could  not  get  in  an 
institution,  but  they  thrived  in  homes  of  the  sim- 
plest kind  where  there  was  a  mother's  care. 

The  necessity  for  love  and  personal  interest 
is  equally  as  great  for  moral  as  for  physical  de- 
velopment. Is  there  not  love  and  sympathy  suf- 
ficient in  the  world  to  give  the  children  who  are 
victims  of  broken  or  wrecked  homes  the  per- 
sonal interest  and  care  which  will  save  them? 

Evenings  in  the  Streets. — One  man  thirty- 
seven  years  old,  in  prison  for  the  third  time,  says 
that  he  had  good  parents  but  that  they  let  him 
spend  his  evenings  in  the  streets.  He  was  often 
a  truant  and  he  used  cigarettes  from  his  ninth 
year.  At  twelve  he  was  guilty  of  stealing  fruit 
and  then  he  kept  on  stealing  other  things.  He 
says :  "To  bring  children  up  rightly  parents 
should  insist  on  their  studying  at  home.  They 
should  be  kept  home  evenings  unless  accom- 
panied by  their  parents.  Have  them  avoid  ciga- 
rettes." 

An  Englishman  tells  of  his  having  been  a  tru- 
ant at  eleven.  At  nineteen  he  was  a  thief.  He 
writes:  "I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  five 
years,  where  I  learned  more  about  stealing  and 


^ 


34  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

vice  than  in  all  my  prison  terms.  The  dread  of 
being  punished  by  the  cane  was  the  main  cause 
of  my  playing  truant.  In  those  days  a  boy  was 
beaten  with  the  cane  for  very  little  cause." 

Home  Conditions. — A  careful  study  of  the  ten 
thousand  children  who  in  a  period  of  eight  years 
passed  through  the  Juvenile  Court  of  Philadel- 
phia has  shown  that  the  presence  of  these  chil- 
dren in  the  court  was  due  in  a  large  proportion 
of  the  cases  to  conditions  of  home  life  unfavor- 
able to  wholesome  development.  The  testimony 
of  prison  inmates  in  eight  states  has  only  con- 
firmed the  impression  that  in  the  majority  of 
cases  the  home  has  been  to  a  large  degree  re- 
sponsible for  shaping  lives  in  a  direction  favor- 
able to  crime. 

To  understand  those  influences  in  the  home 
which  contribute  to  the  development  of  the 
criminal  is  of  primary  importance  in  saving  way- 
ward children  and  preventing  the  making  of 
criminals.  To  make  all  parents  understand  that 
it  is  through  their  inefficiency  that  the  ranks  of 
the  criminals  gain  their  largest  number  of  re- 
cruits is  the  next  step  toward  saving  wayward 
children  and  preventing  crime.  To  show  what 
constructive  work  must  be  done  in  the  home  and 
to  give  parents  the  chance  to  learn  how  to  do  it 
is  the  third  step  necessary  for  the  saving  of  way- 
ward children,  - 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  35; 

Influence  of  Heredity. — The  theory  of  Lom- 
broso  that  criminals  were  born  and  not  made  has 
discouraged  effort  to  help  erring-  humanity  and 
has  tended  to  relieve  society  of  the  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility for  crime.  When  carried  back  to 
William  the  Conqueror  each  child  has,  accord- 
ing to  President  G.  Stanley  Hall,  eight  billion 
ancestors.  From  so  many  as  eight  billion  an- 
cestors each  child  nmst  certainly  have  a  very 
mixed  heredity,  and  w^e  may  be  encouraged 
about  the  matter  even  more  by  remembering 
that  man  was  created  in  the  image  and  likeness 
of  God  and  that  consequently  there  must  be 
some  good  in  every  one.  Belief  in  the  possibili- 
ties of  childhood  is  happily  replacing  the  gloomy 
theories  of  Lombroso.  We  are  asking  ourselves 
nowadays  how  to  develop  the  child  physically, 
morally  and  mentally,  and  thus  prevent  crime, 
rather  than  how  to  care  for  and  punish  wayward 
children  and  adult  criminals. 

Wayward  Children  Are  Normal. — Nine-tenths 
of  the  ten  thousand  children  whose  cases  form 
the  basis  for  this  investigation  of  causes  contrib- 
utory to  crime  were  normal  children.  This 
shows  how  small  a  factor  the  abnormal  child 
was  among  the  many  who  were  arrested  and 
brought  before  the  court.  It  emphasizes  the 
fact  that  there  were  causes  outside  the  children's 
own  personalities  that  led  them  into  the  clutches 


36  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

of  the  law.  It  also  emphasizes  the  fact  that,  as 
so  many  were  normal  children,  it  should  have 
been  possible  in  the  home  to  give  them  the  in- 
fluences and  training  which  would  have  saved 
them  from  the  offenses  for  which  they  had  to 
face  the  court. 

More  Than  Half  American-Bom. — More  than 
half  of  these  ten  thousand  children  were  Ameri- 
can-born. This  fact  should  serve  to  refute  the 
oft-repeated  theory  that  our  subjects  of  crim- 
inal tendencies  are  largely  drawn  from  the  for- 
eign element.  The  division  between  Protestants 
and  Catholics  was  about  even.  These  facts 
place  a  greater  responsibility  on  the  American 
home,  for  the  reason  that  the  child  of  foreign 
parents  suffers  under  handicaps  that  do  not  so 
often  confront  the  American  child.  Many  of  the 
people  newly  arrived  in  the  United  States  are 
subjected  to  the  bad  influences  of  congested  dis- 
tricts, and  they  must  live  the  unsettled  life  of 
newcomers  who  have  as  yet  gained  no  knowl- 
edge of  the  customs  of  their  new  country  or  of 
its  language.  These  conditions  are  suf^ciently 
prejudicial  to  orderly  home  life,  and  yet  the  num- 
ber of  foreign  children  appearing  in  the  courts 
was  not  so  large  as  of  American  ones. 

Arrested  for  Stealing. — More  than  half  of  the 
children  in  the  juvenile  court  during  eight  years 
were  there  for  stealing.  No  one  could  listen  to 
the  stories  of  theft  of  every  sort  told  by  these 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  2>7 

children  without  reaching-  the  conclusion  that 
honesty  does  not  come  without  constructive  par- 
ental teaching.  Comparatively  few  parents  real- 
ize this.  They  take  it  for  granted  that  such  a 
fundamental  quality  comes  naturally.  The  facts 
do  not  bear  out  such  an  assumption.  The  sense 
of  mine  and  thine  is  one  that  must  be  cultivated. 
A  baby  will  take  whatever  pleases  his  fancy — 
and  no  one  expects  anything  else.  If  this  practise 
is  to  be  stopped  the  baby  must  be  taught  that 
there  are  things  he  can  not  have.  Parents  are 
usually  much  distressed  when  they  find  their 
children  taking  things  that  are  not  their  own. 
With  breaking  hearts  they  fancy  their  children 
are  wicked,  when  in  reality  often  they  them- 
selves have  failed  to  show  them  that  these  hab- 
its of  babyhood  can  not  be  continued  as  they 
grow  older.  Parents  thus  take  too  much  for 
granted,  and  by  their  fault  of  omission  their  chil- 
dren naturally  get  into  trouble.  Dishonesty  in 
childhood  in  many  cases  is  simply  the  continu- 
ance of  the  baby's  practise  of  taking  whatever 
pleases  his  fancy  without  knowledge  or  thought 
of  any  other  side  of  the  question  save  the  per- 
sonal wish  to  be  gratified. 

Self-Control. — The  cause  which  ranked  next  to 
dishonesty  in  bringing  children  into  court  was 
lack  of  self-control.  An  ungovernable  temper, 
the  cigarette  habit,  the  liquor  habit  and  the 
drug    habit     followed     closely     after     stealing. 

30S660 


38  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

There  may  seem  to  be  no  relation  between  the 
little  child  who  throws  himself  on  the  floor  in 
a  temper  because  he  can  not  have  what  he 
wishes  and  the  man  who  is  a  drunkard  or  a 
murderer  or  a  seducer.  The  fact  is,  however, 
that  the  latter  are  a  legitimate  and  logical  de- 
velopment from  the  child  who  has  never  been 
taught  self-control.  And  this  is  a  quality  which 
the  home  alone  can  develop. 

Men  who  are  serving  life  sentences  for  mur- 
der in  the  past  allowed  their  appetite  for  drink 
to  control  them,  and  from  this  murder  followed. 
Many  of  these  are  young  men  who  in  a  youth- 
ful spree  blighted  their  whole  lives.  There  is 
no  limit  to  the  dangers  which  beset  the  path 
of  those  who  have  not  learned  self-control. 
When  some  terrible  crime  is  committed  the  real 
cause  too  often  lies  in  parental  neglect  to  cul- 
tivate from  childhood  the  power  of  self-control. 
Without  this  early  training  there  is  no  home 
to  which  such  a  sorrow  may  not  come.  It  is  a 
matter  that  concerns  every  parent  and  every 
family.  There  are  many  prison  inmates  to-day 
who  will  tell  one  that  they  had  loving  parents 
who  would  say  they  had  done  everything  for 
their  children.  As  far  as  they  know  this  may 
be  true,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  crime 
will  not  decrease  until  parents  learn  that  the 
fundamental  work  of  the  home  lies  in  so  incul- 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  39 

eating  in  their  children  the  laws  of  life  that 
these  will  become  an  integral  part  of  charac- 
ter. This  can  not  be  done  without  the  careful 
study  and  practise  of  the  methods  which  are 
effective,  with  at  the  same  time  avoidance  of 
those  which  are  fatal  to  real  strength  and 
growth. 

About  half  of  the  children  appearing  before 
the  court  were  addicted  to  the  use  of  ciga- 
rettes when  very  young.  The  taste  for  ciga- 
rettes is  of  course  not  a  natural  one.  In  most 
cases  children  think  that  smoking  them  is  a 
manly  thing,  and  before  parents  know  of  it  the 
habit  is  formed.  Laws  forbidding  the  sale  of 
cigarettes  to  minors  can  not  safeguard  children 
unless  parents  do  their  part  in  showing  their 
deleterious  effect  on  health  and  character  so 
plainly  that  children  may  be  prepared  to  resist 
forming  this  habit. 

Running  Away. — The  children  who  had  run 
away  from  home  and  so  were  brought  into  court 
numbered  many  hundred  among  the  ten  thou- 
sand whose  cases  have  been  studied.  Very 
often  the  cause  of  this  lay  in  the  love  of  adven- 
ture or  the  reading  of  sensational  books.  Other 
causes  lay  in  the  strictness  of  parents  who  re- 
pressed their  children's  natural  desires  without 
providing  any  safe  outlet  for  them,  in  unpleas- 
ant homes  where  there  was  drinking  and  abuse, 


40  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

in  the  fear  of  a  parent's  anger  after  some  act 
of  disobedience,  in  dislike  for  school  and  in  the 
desire  to  earn  money. 

A  youth  of  twenty-three  years  may  serve  as 
an  example  of  the  way  in  which  the  mistakes  of 
others  may  ruin  a  life.  He  tells  of  having  a 
good  home,  but  says :  "My  parents  were  so 
strict  it  led  me  to  run  away  often,  which  led 
finally  to  a  juvenile  asylum.  Never  was  any 
good  afterward."  The  first  difficulty  was  the 
failure  of  his  parents  to  provide  safe  pleasures 
for  the  boy.  He  was  a  chronic  truant,  never 
caring  to  go  to  school  when  the  weather  was 
fine.  He  says  further:  "When  I  wanted  to 
enjoy  myself  thoroughly  I'd  run  away.  At 
eighteen  I  was  away  from  home,  down  and  out, 
hungry.  I  broke  into  a  restaurant  and  was  de- 
tected and  sent  to  a  reformatory.  I  can  never 
forget  that  my  first  offense,  so  small  as  it  was, 
might  have  been  forgiven.  But  I  was  sentenced 
at  eighteen,  and  at  twenty  was  again  sentenced 
for  ten  years." 

A  Canadian  woman  of  twenty-eight,  serving 
a  prison  sentence  for  stealing,  writes:  "Un- 
happy homes  which  cause  children  to  go  out 
into  the  world  alone  and  unhappy  are  the  great- 
est cause  of  so  many  committing  crime.  They 
get  discouraged  and  do  not  care  what  becomes 
of  them." 

An  American  twenty-eight  years  old  who  has 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  41 

served  several  terms  in  prison  is  another  exam- 
ple of  parental  mistakes.  He  attended  school 
irregularly  and  frequently  played  truant  in 
baseball  season.  He  never  learned  any  trade, 
but  v^as  in  turn  a  newsboy,  a  bootblack,  a  mes- 
senger, and  w^hen  serving  in  the  last-named  ca- 
pacity he  learned  to  steal.  He  says:  "A  trade 
would  have  helped  me  most  to  lead  an  honest 
life.  I  blame  the  strait-laced  puritanical  re- 
strictions on  my  childish  pleasures  for  my 
ruined  life.  There  was  too  much  unadulterated 
religious  teaching  and  too  little  wholesome 
pleasure  with  children  of  my  own  age." 

One  prison  inmate  writes  to  parents  in  gen- 
eral :  "Keep  young  girls  away  from  dance-halls. 
There  is  where  most  of  them  are  led  astray. 
Parents  should  make  children  love  them  in- 
stead of  fearing  them.  Most  boys  and  girls  will 
tell  a  falsehood  if  they  fear  a  whipping  in  case 
they  tell  the  truth." 

Nine-Tenths  Are  Boys. — The  fact  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  children  brought  into  court  are 
boys  requires  investigation  as  to  why  they 
should  so  greatly  outnumber  the  girls.  No  par- 
ent will  admit  that  in  infancy  and  childhood 
boys  show  a  greater  predisposition  to  wrong- 
doing. In  some  way  the  home  is  less  efficient 
in  meeting  the  needs  of  boys  than  of  girls.  It 
is  a  grave  reflection  on  the  home  and  the  com- 
munity that  this  is   the   case.     The  fault   does 


42  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

not  rest  with  the  boys,  but  with  wrong  methods 
of  training  and  education.  No  more  important 
study  could  be  made  than  to  trace  the  causes 
for  this  condition  and  take  measures  for  con- 
structive work  that  will  enable  boys  to  have  a 
fairer  chance  than  they  do  now. 

Children's  Reading. — The  reading  of  children 
has  such  a  strong  influence  on  their  lives  that 
it  is  a  factor  to  be  considered  in  every  home. 
Many  prison  inmates  had  for  tlieir  heroes  in 
youth  Jesse  James,  Diamond  Dick  and  Nick 
Carter.  They  were  interested  in  criminal  news, 
murders  and  robberies.  Their  ideals  of  char- 
acter were  molded  in  large  degree  on  lines  fur- 
nished in  the  figures  of  those  whom  they  ad- 
mired as  heroes.  At  the  time  when  their  char- 
acters were  being  formed  they  were  unfortunate 
in  having  no  one  to  place  before  them  a  differ- 
ent ideal  of  manhood. 

Many  of  the  children  who  appear  in  the  juve- 
nile court  feel  that  manliness  consists  largely 
of  profanity  and  a  loud  voice.  They  have  formed 
their  conception  of  manhood  from  the  types 
they  have  known  and  they  shape  their  own  con- 
duct accordingly.  One  can  not  regard  too  se- 
riously the  need  for  protecting  children  from 
sensational  and  impure  literature.  It  is  one  of 
the  great  factors  causing  runaway  children, 
child  burglars  and  the  like.  The  robber's  cave 
in  which  he  deposits  his  gains  has  been  copied 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  43 

in  many  cities  by  many  boys  who  have  loved 
the  romantic  glamour  and  danger  with  which 
such  exploits  are  invested  in  the  stories  they 
read.  The  love  of  excitement  and  sensation 
is  a  part  of  boy  nature  which  must  be  reckoned 
with.  To  attempt  repression  is  useless,  but  to 
direct  these  activities  into  safe  channels  is  quite 
easy  and  invariably  successful.  The  Boy  Scout 
movement  is  a  sensible  and  practical  utilization 
of  the  boy's  natural  tastes,  offering  him  activi- 
ties that  are  beneficial  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
teresting. There  is  not  sufficient  opportunity 
at  present  for  boys  and  girls  to  form  whole- 
some tastes  in  reading,  for  in  few  places  are 
interesting  and  inspiring  books  available  for 
them.  In  many  towns  there  are  no  libraries, 
and  even  where  libraries  exist  they  are  not  used 
by  the  children  who  stand  in  greatest  need  of 
them. 

School  Libraries. — Every  school  might  per- 
form a  great  service  in  maintaining  libraries  and 
reading  rooms.  State  libraries  in  many  states 
will  send  a  small  selection  of  books  to  any  town 
desiring  them.  Graded  lists  of  books  suitable 
for  children  are  also  published  by  the  National 
Congress  of  Mothers,  and  with  these  lists  a  li- 
brary may  readily  be  selected. 

Reading  Courses. — On  account  of  the  impor- 
tance of  furnishing  some  guidance  for  the  read- 
ing of  boys  and  girls  after  they  have  left  school 


44  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

the  Bureau  of  Education  in  Washington  has  ar- 
ranged courses  of  reading  for  them,  and  it  gives 
certificates  to  those  who  complete  its  courses. 
This  offers  an  opportunity  for  boys  and  girls 
to  continue  their  education  at  home  under  wise 
guidance. 

The  Danger  of  Impurity. — Parents  should 
know  that  temptations  to  impurity  are  so  con- 
stantly present  that  no  boy  or  girl  can  escape 
them.  Even  before  the  child  leaves  the  shelter 
of  his  home  obscene  literature  is  often  sent  him 
by  those  who  use  school  catalogues  and  the  like 
means  of  procuring  the  names  of  children.  No 
home  is  secure  from  this  menace  to  children, 
and  yet  in  many  cases  the  parents  know  noth- 
ing of  the  malign  influence  that  has  entered 
their  home.  Poison  is  thus  instilled  without 
any  parental  knowledge  of  it.  And  when  school 
and  college  days  are  reached  temptations  are 
placed  before  youth  in  forms  of  which  the  aver- 
age parent  never  dreams.  If  on  the  other  hand 
the  child  goes  into  the  working  world  he  will 
there  find  on  every  side  tempters  plying  their  ne- 
farious trade  of  corrupting  youth.  In  such  subtle 
ways  are  these  temptations  disguised  that  the 
young  person's  first  misstep  is  often  taken  unin- 
tentionally, while  the  consequent  feeling  of  dis- 
grace and  shame  breeds  a  mood  in  which  the 
youth  merely  continues  on  his  downward  path. 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  45 

Functions  of  Life. — No  parents  who  have  the 
sHghtest  regard  for  their  children's  safety  can 
fail  to  give  them  careful  instruction  in  regard 
to  the  procreative  functions,  their  sacredness 
and  the  danger  of  their  abuse.  Children  must  be 
forewarned  of  the  dangers  they  may  meet,  and 
they  should  be  protected  from  them  trebly,  first 
by  instilling  in  them  a  high  view  of  these  God- 
given  functions,  and  then  by  warning  them  of 
the  consequences  of  their  abuse,  and  in  the  third 
place  by  telling  them  of  the  forms  in  which 
temptation  may  come  to  them.  Parents  should 
familiarize  themselves  with  the  revelations  made 
by  such  organizations  as  the  United  States  Im- 
migration Commission  in  order  better  to  pro- 
tect their  children  from  this  most  insidious  and 
carefully  cloaked  of   evils. 

Youth  in  all  its  freshness  and  innocence  is 
daily  subjected  to  lures  from  which  every  true 
man  or  woman  must  recoil  in  wonder  and  hor- 
ror at  there  being  those  in  human  form  who 
would  seek  to  spread  such  destruction.  If  chil- 
dren have  to  encounter  these  destructive  foes, 
parents  must  not  remain  ignorant  of  their  ex- 
istence. They  can  not  be  ignored ;  the  children 
must  be  prepared  for  them  and  helped  to  avoid 
or  resist  them.  It  is  often  the  first  step  that 
counts  most  toward  following  permanently  the 
downward  path.    To  prevent  this  first  step  from 


46  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

being  taken  every  parent  must  be  informed  of 
all  that  lies  in  wait  to  prey  on  youth.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  paint  a  dark  or  gloomy  picture 
of  life ;  emphasis  on  the  bright  and  noble  side 
of  humanity  is  better,  and  also  sets  up  a  worthy 
goal  for  endeavor.  The  motive  for  a  pure  life 
is  a  better  one  if  it  consists  of  a  love  of  good- 
ness rather  than  the  fear  of  evil. 

Inefficient  Homes. — Parental  ignorance  of 
the  temptations  laid  in  the  path  of  children  is 
largely  accountable  for  the  failure  to  guard 
against  them.  It  can  not  be  emphasized  too 
strongly  that  no  home  is  secure  from  these  at- 
tacks on  the  life,  health  and  character  of  the 
children.  It  is  evil  influences  in  childhood  that 
cause  waywardness  and  lead  on  to  every  phase 
of  inefficiency  and  crime.  The  home  filled  with 
love,  in  which  parents  are  guided  by  wisdom 
and  a  definite  purpose,  will  do  more  than  all  else 
to  keep  children  in  the  right  path.  When  the 
home  fails  the  children  are  in  real  danger.  The 
effort  to  strengthen  weak  homes,  helping  par- 
ents to  realize  their  responsibility  and  teaching 
them  how  to  meet  it  efficiently,  is  one  of  the 
most  important  measures  in  the  prevention  of 
waywardness.  Help  along  these  lines  is  univer- 
sally needed  and  must  be  given  to  parents  no 
matter  where  they  are.  The  plan  of  the  Na- 
tional Congress  of  Mothers  of  forming  a  parent- 
teacher  association  in  every  school  and  church 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  47 

for  the  study  of  child  nurture  and  the  general 
needs  of  children  is  a  most  practical  method 
of  reaching  all  parents.  In  this  way  a  great  op- 
portunity is  afforded  for  safeguarding  youth 
through  parental  study  of  conditions  affecting 
children,  the  child's  nature  and  the  methods  that 
will  bring  out  the  best  there  is  in  children. 

PRISON     INMATES     BLAME     HOME     CONDITIONS     FOR 
THEIR  CONDITION. 

An  American  who  was  sentenced  to  twenty 
years  in  prison  for  a  murder  committed  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two  tells  of  having  had  an  un- 
natural mother  who  was  accessory  to  the  murder 
of  her  father.  He  says  in  addition:  'T  had  no 
trade,  and  saloons  and  dives  were  my  only  places 
of  recreation.  I  needed  steady  employment  and 
some  encouragement  to  keep  it." 

A  negro,  aged  fifty,  states  that  his  parents 
were  slaves.  He  writes:"  "Mother  was  sold  and 
gave  me  away.  No  schooling,  no  home.  Began 
picking  cotton  at  seven.  I  was  a  messenger  boy 
for  thieves  and  gamblers.  I  used  liquor.  Neg- 
lect and  abuse  drove  me  to  larceny.  I  have 
served  four  terms  in  prison,  though  I  have  not 
been  a  criminal  at  heart." 

An  American,  aged  forty,  writes:  "A  good 
home  would  have  helped  me  to  an  honest  life." 
This  prisoner's  mother  died  when  he  was  four- 


48  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

teen.  He  had  little  education,  served  for  a  time 
as  a  messenger  boy,  and  spent  nine  months  in  an 
orphan  asylum.  He  was  first  arrested  for  be- 
ing drunk. 

American,  thirty-seven:  "I  think  my  father 
was  too  strict  in  his  discipline,  as  he  created 
fear  in  my  heart  instead  of  love.  Many  parents 
are  too  handy  with  the  rod.  They  arouse  fear 
in  a  child,  so  that  when  he  does  wrong  he  is 
afraid  to  go  home  and  so  starts  his  evil  ways 
by  staying  away  from  home  at  night  until  his 
older  pals  go  home.  After  a  while  he  begins 
staying  out  all  night." 

German,  fifty-one:  "My  parents  disliked  me 
and  never  showed  me  any  love  or  kindness.  My 
own  people  are  the  cause  of  my  troubles.  If  a 
man  were  given  a  chance  to  earn  something 
while  in  prison  to  put  by  for  the  day  he  is  dis- 
charged it  would  save  many  from  coming  back. 
We  should  be  given  a  chance  to  help  ourselves," 

A  youth  of  twenty-four  tells  of  beginning  to 
smoke  cigarettes  at  eight  years.  He  says:  *T 
was  put  out  of  the  house  one  night  when  my 
father  was  drunk.  I  trace  my  being  in  prison 
now  from  that." 

American,  twenty-one:  "I  had  a  drinking 
father  and  my  mother  often  worked  outside  the 
house.  I  attended  school  a1)out  half  the  time. 
I  was  always  interested  in  criminal  news.  I  was 
a  newsboy  and  a  messenger  boy.     I  learned  to 


PARENTS'  MISTAKES  49 

use  liquor,  and  it  was  the  cause  of  all  my  trou- 
bles. I  was  arrested  at  fourteen  for  stealing. 
I  consider  the  causes  rum,  tobacco  and  bad  lit- 
erature." 

American,  forty-one:  "I  had  no  schooling, 
and  I  read  Jesse  James  and  such  other  books 
not  fit  for  boys.  I  can  only  say  that  while  sa- 
loons and  the  liquor  traffic  thrive  throughout  this 
country,  and  people  do  not  take  a  different  atti- 
tude toward  the  man  who  has  fallen  and  give 
him  a  chance,  crime  can  not  be  lessened." 

American,  twenty-one:  *T  was  always  inter- 
ested in  criminal  news  and  stories.  I  spent  my 
evenings  in  the  street.  I  was  a  newsboy  and 
bootblack.  Liquor  and  girls  were  the  causes 
of  my  downfall.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory 
at  fourteen.  It  made  me  worse.  I  am  now  in 
prison  from  one  to  fourteen  years." 

American,  twenty-seven:  "My  mother  died 
when  I  was  five.  Afterward  there  was  a  step- 
mother. I  read  dime  novels,  and  especially  liked 
Diamond  Dick,  Nick  Carter  and  Old  Sleuth. 
I  did  not  attend  school  regularly  and  began 
work  at  eleven.  I  seldom  went  to  church  or 
Sunday-school.  I  used  liquor  and  cigarettes, 
and  committed  larceny  at  twenty.  Was  sent 
to  a  reformatory  for  three  years.  The  influence 
there  was  disastrous.  I  have  since  served  two 
terms  in  the  state  prison.  I  need  friends  and 
money." 


50  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

American,  eighteen:  "My  father  died  and  my 
mother  had  employment  outside  the  house.  I 
read  dime  novels,  Buffalo  Bill,  Diamond  Dick 
and  Nick  Carter  being  my  favorites.  I  was  al- 
ways interested  in  murders  and  robberies.  I 
was  arrested  for  arson  at  fifteen  and  was  sent  to 
prison  for  five  years." 

American,  twenty-three :  "I  attended  school 
irregularly.  I  read  Jesse  James,  Nick  Carter 
and  Diamond  Dick,  and  these  were  my  favorite 
characters.  I  used  liquor  and  cigarettes.  I 
committed  larceny  at  fourteen,  and  this  was 
caused  by  dime  novels.  I  was  sent  to  a  reform- 
atory for  fourteen  months  and  the  influence 
was  not  beneficial.  I  am  now  in  prison  for  eight 
years.  If  I  had  my  life  to  live  over  again  I 
would  not  smoke  cigarettes  or  read  dime 
novels." 


CHAPTER  IV 

SEPARATION  OF  PARENTS 

WHEN  parents  separate  from  each  other 
the  most  tragic  thing  about  the  proceed- 
ing is  the  destiny  of  their  children  when  these 
are  bereft  of  nurture  and  guidance.  The  ideal 
of  a  true  home  filled  with  love,  as  well  as  all 
those  influences  on  character  which  come  only 
from  real  home  life — these  are  taken  away  from 
the  children  when  parents  separate.  From 
many  stories  of  the  early  life  of  prison  inmates 
the  effect  of  the  separation  of  parents  is  clearly 
shown.  It  is  one  of  the  large  contributory  fac- 
tors in  making  wayward  children. 

An  American,  aged  thirty-three,  in  telling  of 
his  childhood  says :  "My  parents  were  divorced 
when  I  was  a  small  boy.  I  worked  as  a  mes- 
senger boy,  and  principally  for  mischief  I  stole 
at  the  age  of  thirteen.  I  was  sent  to  a  reforma- 
tory for  two  years  and  ten  months.  The  in- 
fluence was  the  reverse  of  beneficial.  If  I  had 
been  discharged  with  a  reprimand  instead  of  be- 
ing committed  to  a  reform  school  I  would  not 
be  here  now.     In  my  opinion  a  reformatory  or 

51 


52  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

protectory  is  nothing  more  than  a  school  of 
crime,  as  in  thinking  over  all  those  whose  ac- 
quaintance I  made  while  an  inmate  of  a  reform 
school  I  can  not  recall  one  who  reformed,  and  I 
believe  sixty  per  cent,  of  the  prisoners  here  are 
graduates  of  one  or  another  of  those  institu- 
tions, I  was  forsaken  by  all  and  have  spent 
three  terms  in  prison." 

Children  and  Divorce. — The  handicaps  were 
too  great  for  a  small  boy  to  overcome.  It  would 
seem  that  the  court  which  granted  divorce  to 
this  boy's  parents  should  have  taken  the  boy 
into  consideration  and  required  that  provision 
be  made  in  some  way  for  his  care  and  educa- 
tion. To  grant  divorces  without  providing  that 
good  care  be  taken  of  the  children  has  proved 
a  great  wrong  to  them  and  a  menace  to  the 
state.  No  one  who  sits  day  after  day  observing 
the  cases  in  the  juvenile  courts  can  remain  blind 
to  the  fact  that  many  children  are  there  on  ac- 
count of  the  separation  or  divorce  of  their  par- 
ents. 

In  the  case  just  cited  the  occupation  of  mes- 
senger boy  was  an  unfortunate  one,  as  it  is  but 
little  removed  from  street  life  and  affords  no 
opportunity  for  home  influence.  The  treatment 
given  in  consequence  of  the  child's  first  theft 
proved  disastrous.  Probably  the  court  sent  the 
boy  to  the  reformatory  by  way  of  punishment, 
though  it  is  possible  that  the  intention  may  have 


SEPARATION  OF  PARENTS  53 

been  to  save  him  from  street  life.  Whichever 
the  reason  was,  however,  the  acquaintances 
made  there  served  only  as  an  additional  handi- 
cap to  the  boy,  and  through  the  lessons  there 
learned  from  other  erring  boys  the  step  from 
reformatory  to  prison  was  made  a  short  one. 

Need  for  Guardians. — When  a  child  is  for- 
saken by  both  father  and  mother  there  should 
be  some  way  of  continuing  for  him,  while  it  can 
be  effective,  the  home  training  which  every  child 
needs.  Separations  and  divorces  are  so  numer- 
ous that  the  problem  of  taking  care  of  the  chil- 
dren of  these  parents  is  a  serious  one.  It  would 
at  least  seem  wise  if  courts  appointed  guardians 
for  such  children,  these  guardians  being  com- 
pelled to  furnish  reports  at  regular  intervals 
concerning  the  children's  welfare. 

A  prisoner  serving  a  long  term  writes:  "My 
parents  were  divorced  when  I  was  three  years 
old.  My  mother  died  when  I  was  ten.  My  sis- 
ter went  to  an  orphan  asylum  and  I  went  out  on 
the  streets.  Bad  companions  and  the  lack  of 
home  influence  led  me  to  purse-snatching  at 
thirteen.  I  was  arrested  and  treated  as  a  hard- 
ened criminal.  No  kindness  was  shown  me. 
Having  been  forced  to  associate  with  criminals 
when  I  was  a  boy,  I  naturally  drifted  into  crime. 
I  think  the  only  way  to  save  a  boy  is  to 
treat  him  as  a  boy,  not  as  a  man.  If  the  judges 
would  remember  that  a  boy  is  only  a  boy  there 


54  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

would  be  fewer  criminals.     And  so  at  twenty- 
nine  I  am  in  prison." 

This  man  is  the  logical  result  of  unfortunate 
conditions  in  childhood  for  which  he  was  in  no 
way  responsible.  If  crime  is  to  be  prevented 
measures  should  be  taken  to  obviate  such 
wrongs  to  childhood.  This  man  might  have 
had  a  different  life  had  the  court  appointed  a 
guardian  for  him  when  the  divorce  was  granted 
to  his  parents. 

An  American,  thirty-six  years  old  and  serv- 
ing a  prison  sentence,  says:  "1  had  a  drinking 
father  and  my  parents  separated  when  I  was  a 
year  old.  I  had  little  schooling  and  had  to  work. 
I  learned  to  drink  and  at  nineteen  I  was  ar- 
rested and  sent  to  prison  for  four  years.  Kind- 
ness and  a  chance  to  earn  an  honest  living 
would  have  helped  me.  No  one  would  believe 
me  sincere  or  help  me  to  get  work." 

In  this  case  the  3xar-old  child  was  the  real 
sufferer  from  the  separation  of  his  parents.  What 
chance  is  there  for  a  little  child,  deprived  in  this 
manner  of  his  home  life  and  home  training,  un- 
less provision  is  made  for  him  to  receive  these  in 
some  other  way?  Society  pays  dearly  for  its 
neglect  of  these  little  ones,  but  the  suffering  en- 
tailed on  the  one  whose  life  is  ruined  is  far  more 
serious.  A  guardian  was  surely  needed  in  this 
instance,  but  thirty-five  years  ago  even  less  was 
done  to  save  children  than  now. 


SEPARATION  OF  PARENTS  55 

An  American  of  thirty  years,  who  is  now 
serving  a  life  term  in  prison,  says  that  he  be- 
lieves his  loveless,  homeless  childhood  was  the 
cause  of  his  downfall.  He  writes:  "My  parents 
separated  when  I  was  one  year  old.  My  mother 
had  to  work  outside,  and  died  when  I  was  five. 
I  was  put  into  an  orphanage  when  one  year  old. 
I  am  in  prison  for  murder  caused  by  liquor.  I 
am  satisfied  if  I  had  had  a  good  home  with  some 
one  to  love  me  when  I  was  a  child  I  could  tell 
a  different  story." 

Longing  for  love  and  a  home  is  shown  by  a 
very  great  many  of  the  unfortunate  men  and 
women  in  prison.  It  must  indeed  be  recognized 
as  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  childhood.  Or- 
phanages can  not  fill  this  need.  No  one  can  look 
into  the  faces  of  the  hundreds  of  children  in  the 
best  kept  orphanages  without  seeing  on  them 
an  expression  far  different  from  that  of  the  child 
who  enjoys  individual  interest  in  him,  love  and 
care. 

An  American  aged  thirty-four  says:  "My 
parents  separated  when  I  was  seven.  My 
mother  worked  out  after  that.  My  parents  com- 
mitted a  crime  in  being  divorced,  I  think.  When 
out  of  work  and  drunk  I  stole  an  overcoat  at 
eighteen  and  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary.  If  I 
had  been  given  a  chance  after  my  first  trouble, 
instead  of  being  cast  among  criminals,  I  would 
not  be  to-day  a  convict  and  have  spent  my  best 


56  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

days  in  prison,  an  outcast  and  a  broken-hearted 
man." 

When  a  seven-year-old  boy  is  left  alone  be- 
cause his  mother  is  forced  to  earn  her  bread  he 
necessarily  suffers  from  a  lack  of  the  care  and 
guidance  which  every  child  needs.  Further- 
more, the  sending  of  this  boy  to  the  penitentiary 
for  his  first  offense,  committed  w^hile  he  was 
under  the  influence  of  liquor,  was  unquestion- 
ably another  strong  factor  in  making  him  a 
criminal.  There  are  more  efifiicient  ways  of  sav- 
ing erring  boys  of  eighteen  than  sending  them 
to  the  penitentiary.  This  boy  should  have  been 
put  under  probation  and  should  have  been 
placed  where  good  influences  would  be  thrown 
uround  him.  In  a  prison  this  is  impossible. 
Stealing  an  overcoat  and  drinking  are  grave 
faults,  but  not  grave  enough  to  require  the  ruin 
of  an  entire  life,  which  is  the  usual  result  of  a 
sentence  to  a  penitentiary. 

A  Dane  serving  a  long  term  in  prison  writes: 
"My  parents  separated  before  I  was  a  year  old. 
I  had  no  one  to  advise  me  as  to  what  was  right. 
I  had  little  schooling.  Bad  company  got  me 
into  trouble." 

An  American,  thirty  years  old  and  in  prison, 
attributes  his  misfortunes  to  his  experiences  in 
childhood,  and  says:  "My  parents  were  di- 
yorced  and  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  at  thir- 


SEPARATION  OF  PARENTS  57 

teen  because  I  had  no  home.  It  taught  me  to 
be  crooked." 

Until  very  recently  reformatories  were  used 
for  homeless  or  erring  children  without  any  dis- 
crimination. This  has  proved  disastrous  in 
many  cases.  The  practise  still  obtains  at  the 
present  time,  merely  because  it  is  often  the 
easiest  thing  to  do.  Some  states  have  passed 
laws  against  sending  homeless  children  to  re- 
formatories, but  when  no  other  place  is  open 
and  the  court  knows  no  one  who  will  find  a  suit- 
able place  for  a  child,  he  often  is  sent  to  one 
of  these  institutions.  Thus  an  innocent  child 
is  obliged  to  associate  with  those  who  are 
versed  in  many  phases  of  crime,  and  it  is  im- 
possible to  estimate  the  number  of  children 
whose  lives  have  been  ruined  in  this  way.  There 
is  great  need  for  adequate  provision  by  the 
state  for  the  care  and  education  of  homeless 
children  in  families  where  they  may  have  nor- 
mal home  life. 

A  Norwegian  twenty-four  years  old,  and  serv- 
ing a  long  term  for  manslaughter  committed 
while  he  was  intoxicated,  writes :  "My  parents 
separated  when  I  was  a  baby.  I  had  no  home 
left." 

An  American  of  twenty-two,  looking  back  on 
his  earliest  downward  steps,  says:  "My  father 
and  mother  separated  when  I  was  nine  years  old. 


SS  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

I  had  no  discipline  owing  to  my  father's  absence 
and  my  mother's  inability.  I  stole  and  was  sent 
to  a  reformatory  for  nine  months.  The  influ- 
ence was  bad.  I  stole  again  and  was  sent  to 
prison." 

Another  prison  inmate  writes:  "I  am  an 
American  thirty-one  years  old.  My  parents 
were  separated  when  I  was  ten  years  old.  Evil 
companions  instructed  me  in  the  art  of  picking 
pockets,  and  at  seventeen,  when  in  want  of 
money,  I  tried  it.  I  have  had  three  terms  in 
prison." 

A  prisoner  forty-four  years  old  says:  "My 
parents  drank,  and  separated  when  I  was  three. 
I  never  had  a  home  and  never  went  to  school. 
I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  when  I  was  nine- 
teen. It  surely  was  my  ruin.  If  I  had  ever  had 
a  home  I  would  have  been  different.  I  always 
longed  for  one." 

Still  another  prisoner  writes:  "My  parents 
were  divorced  when  I  was  fourteen.  I  had  little 
schooling,  no  home  and  no  friends.  I  was  ar- 
rested for  stealing  and  sent  to  a  reformatory 
for  three  years.  I  had  no  work  when  I  got  out, 
no  home,  and  I  had  to  steal  again." 

In  the  cases  of  all  these  men  neglected  child- 
hood through  parental  desertion  was  the  be- 
ginning of  their  downfall.  Their  experiences 
should  prove  the  need  for  an  appointed  guardian 
for  every  child  placed  in  a  similar  position. 


SEPARATION  OF  PARENTS  59 

A  young  man  of  twenty-four  in  telling  of  his 
early  life  writes:  "My  parents  separated  when 
I  was  nine.  I  was  arrested  for  vagrancy  be- 
cause I  had  no  home  and  was  sent  to  a  reforma- 
tory. There  I  learned  to  steal.  There's  where 
a  youth  gets  in  with  a  bad  lot  and  learns  to 
steal." 

This  is  but  another  instance  of  the  mistaken 
treatment  of  a  homeless  child.  Vagrancy  is  not 
a  crime,  but  a  misfortune  which  requires  a  dif- 
ferent remedy  than  arrest.  Authorities  should 
not  be  allowed  to  arrest  children  because  they 
are  homeless.  They  should  be  brought  into 
court  on  petition  for  their  care.  The  reform 
school  as  a  substitute  for  the  home  proves  to 
be  merely  a  school  of  crime,  and  it  gives  the 
child  for  friends  those  whom  he  should  never 
know.  Under  such  a  system  a  child's  whole 
future  is  in  the  hands  of  the  court,  and  the  sys- 
tem has  served  to  wreck  many  lives. 

A  prison  inmate  twenty  years  of  age  writes: 
"My  parents  were  divorced  when  I  was  five. 
I  had  no  home  and  was  sent  to  a  reform  school 
at  fourteen.  When  I  came  out  I  was  shunned 
by  society  on  account  of  having  been  in  the 
reform  school.  I  could  get  nothing  to  do — so 
I  am  in  prison  now." 

The  need  for  a  friendly  helping  hand  to  estab- 
lish youths  after  their  discharge  from  a  reform 
school  is  brought  out  by  the  statements  of  many 


60  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

prisoners.  They  find  it  a  great  handicap  in 
trying  to  obtain  employment  to  have  been  in 
one  of  these  institutions. 

Certainly  instances  sufficient  have  been  given 
to  show  clearly  that  definite  provision  should 
be  made  for  the  care  and  protection  of  children 
when  their  parents  separate  or  are  divorced. 
Remanding  a  child  to  the  care  of  either  parent 
does  not  insure  the  child's  having  proper  care. 
In  most  cases  he  will  not.  The  child  and  the 
state,  it  will  be  admitted,  both  have  some  rights 
that  must  be  considered.  Both  can  best  be  pro- 
tected by  the  appointment  of  a  guardian  to  look 
after  the  child,  see  that  he  receives  proper  care 
and  report  concerning  him  to  the  proper  court 
at  regular  intervals.  Children  of  divorced  or 
separated  parents  are  precluded  from  enjoying 
normal  conditions,  and  they  must  be  protected 
unless  both  child  and  state  are  to  reap  the  bit- 
ter fruit  of  neglect. 

Parents  who  have  any  conception  of  the  han- 
dicap they  thereby  place  on  their  children  will, 
unless  they  be  very  selfish,  think  many  times 
before  breaking  up  the  home  into  which  they 
have  brought  helpless  little  children  who  by 
every  right  should  have  their  care  and  love. 


CHAPTER  V 

REGULATION  OF  OCCUPATIONS  FOR  CHILDREN 

THE  subject  of  the  regulation  of  occupations 
for  children  has  received  much  attention 
during  the  last  decade.  Previous  to  that  there 
was  no  concerted,  thoughtful  effort  to  study  the 
relation  of  a  child's  work  to  his  future  character 
and  strength  as  a  citizen.  When  in  England 
at  the  time  of  the  Boer  War  it  was  found  that 
few  men  came  up  to  the  physical  standard  re- 
quired for  enlistment  in  the  army  there  was  im- 
mediate inquiry  into  the  causes  of  such  a  state 
of  affairs.  The  relation  of  the  employments 
and  occupations  of  youth  to  health  had  become 
of  serious  moment  to  Great  Britain's  future  as 
a  nation. 

The  United  States  has  also  come  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  occupations  and  em- 
ployments of  youth  have  a  direct  bearing  on 
health  and  character  and  are,  in  consequence,  a 
matter  for  government  study,  inspection  and 
regulation. 

Some  kind  of  work  for  children,  even  in  their 
earliest  childhood,  is  necessary  if  good  habits  are 

61 


(>2  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

to  be  formed.  Whether  the  home  be  rich  or 
poor  the  child  is  deprived  of  proper  training  if 
he  never  has  work  to  do.  But  since  all  work 
has  a  direct  bearing  on  health  and  character, 
work  outside  the  home  requires  strict  regula- 
tion. This  also  has  much  to  do  with  the  pre- 
vention of  crime. 

Early  Experiences. — Many  boys,  without  edu- 
cation or  friends,  who  have  been  thrown  on  their 
own  resources,  have  taken  up  some  street  trade, 
such  as  that  of  messenger  boy,  newsboy  or  boot- 
black. We  may  take  as  an  instance  of  the  re- 
sult of  this  an  American  of  twenty-seven  now 
serving  his  second  term  in  prison.  He  began 
work  at  seven,  having  no  friends  and  no  one  to 
advise  him.  He  got  into  bad  company  and  at 
seventeen  he  was  arrested  for  burglary.  Is 
there  anywhere  a  child  of  seven  who  is  capable 
of  self-support  and  self-direction?  The  neglect 
of  such  cases  as  this  one  has  proved  costly  to 
the  state  and  has  wrecked  many  lives. 

Here  is  another  instance  of  neglect  by  the 
community.  An  American  youth  tells  of  being 
left  an  orphan  at  two  years  of  age.  He  was  in 
an  orphanage  until  his  eighth  year,  when  he  be- 
gan work  as  a  newsboy  and  bootblack.  He 
never  went  to  school.  At  eleven  years  of  age 
he  was  arrested  for  petty  larceny  and  sent  to 
jail  for  ninety  days.  The  friends  he  made  and 
the  lessons  he  learned  in  jail  at  the  most  im- 


REGULATION  OF.  OCCUPATIONS    63 

pressionable  period  of  his  life  became  the  direct- 
ing forces  in  his  subsequent  activities.  The  com- 
munity in  which  there  was  such  neglect  and  ill- 
considered  treatment  of  a  child  is  responsible 
for  his  having  become  a  criminal.  The  result 
was  the  logical  consequence  of  the  child's  early- 
life.  Until  within  the  last  ten  years  children 
could  be  found  in  nearly  every  jail,  sent  there 
by  some  magistrate,  and  learning  there  the  les- 
sons that  prison  inmates  can  give.  Even  now 
this  condition  has  only  been  partially  remedied. 

Guardians  for  Children. — The  state  must  take 
cognizance  of  the  fact  that  there  are  always 
children  who  have  no  proper  guardian.  In  these 
cases  the  state  must  become  their  guardian,  pro- 
viding for  their  physical  and  moral  welfare  as 
carefully  as  a  good  parent.  Whatever  the  cost 
it  will  prove  an  economy  in  every  way.  What 
has  hitherto  been  saved  through  neglect  has 
been  more  than  made  up  by  the  costs  of  crim- 
inal prosecution  and  punishment. 

Homeless  Children. — Men  and  women  who 
are  leading  criminal  lives  are  always  on  the 
watch  for  homeless  children.  Many  children 
brought  into  the  juvenile  courts  for  stealing  have 
been  taught  the  trade  by  men  and  women  who 
employ  them  and  direct  them.  Others  help 
burglars  by  climbing  into  places  too  small  for 
a  grown  person  to  enter  and  opening  the  way 
for   them.      Dishonest  junk   dealers   encourage 


64  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

children  to  steal  brass  and  lead  pipe  for  which 
they  pay  them.  Red-light  districts  welcome  the 
uncared-for  child  and  use  him  as  a  messenger 
or  in  other  ways,  while  he  at  the  same  time  be- 
comes familiar  with  all  the  practises  of  the  den- 
izens of  that  quarter.  Unless  the  neglect  of 
these  children  ceases  and  is  supplanted  by  effi- 
cient methods  of  caring  for  them  crime  will 
always  continue  to  have  its  bands  of  youthful 
pupils  who  after  a  few  years'  apprenticeship  are 
well  versed  in  the  practises  of  those  who  live  by 
preying  on  society. 

Remedial  Legislation. — The  whole  effect  of 
remedial  legislation  when  put  into  action  re- 
quires the  most  careful  study.  It  does  not  al- 
ways work  out  as  those  who  plan  it  expect  it 
to.  Broad  knowledge  and  penetrating  insight 
are  both  necessary  in  planning  such  legislation, 
and  a  large  view  of  the  situation  to  be  relieved 
in  all  its  aspects  is  vital  to  a  consideration  of 
the  probable  effect  of  any  projected  law. 

In  recent  years  the  exploitation  of  children  in 
occupations  dangerous  to  life  and  health  has 
very  properly  aroused  sympathy  and  indigna- 
tion. Earnest  work  has  been  done  to  safeguard 
youth.  While  the  results  have  been  important, 
it  needs  to  be  remembered  that  laws  too  ex- 
treme and  rigid  hold  out  possibilities  of  injury 
to  the  children  as  serious  as  overwork.  When 
laws  require  that  no  child  under  fourteen  en- 


REGULATION  OF  OCCUPATIONS    65 

gage  in  any  work  other  than  domestic  or  agri- 
cultural a  grave  danger  confronts  the  city  boys. 

Effect  of  Legislation. — For  the  town  and  city 
boy  there  is  no  agricultural  work  and  little  do- 
mestic work.  The  result  is  compulsory  idleness 
for  three  months  in  the  year  in  the  cases  of  most 
city  boys.  Every  one  who  has  the  slightest  un- 
derstanding of  the  nature  of  boys  knows  that 
activity  is  a  necessity  of  their  being,  and  that  if 
they  are  not  occupied  in  useful  ways  they  will 
soon  find  things  to  do  which  bring  them  up 
against  the  law.  During  school  vacations  one 
may  walk  about  the  streets  of  any  city  and  see 
gangs  of  boys  from  ten  to  fourteen  roaming  the 
streets  without  purpose  or  direction.  The  homes 
of  these  children  are  small,  their  parents  know 
no  vacation  nor  have  they  the  means  to  send 
their  children  to  the  country,  nor  can  they  give 
them  spending  money  with  which  to  gratify 
their  taste  for  candy,  moving-picture  shows  or 
other  childish  pleasures. 

The  children,  on  the  other  hand,  can  not  work 
without  breaking  the  law.  They  can  not  earn 
money  to  gratify  their  wishes.  What  remains 
for  them  but  mischief,  which  they  find  in  many 
forms?  They  see  an  empty  house.  What  eas- 
ier than  to  enter  it  and  steal  the  brass  it  con- 
tains, for  which  they  can  get  a  few  pennies  from 
a  junk  dealer?  Or  they  will  rob  slot  machines, 
or  in  countless  other  ways  will  they  find  means 


'66  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

for  injuring  themselves  and  tlieir  community. 
It  is  not  inherent  mischievousness  that  brings  on 
these  things.  If  employment  that  would  occupy 
their  thoughts  and  hands  were  given  these  boys 
they  would  find  no  time  or  inclination  for  their 
raids  on  property. 

It  is  useless  to  expect  that  boys  can  be  idle 
and  quiet  for  weeks  at  a  time.  Unless  some 
kind  of  work  is  permitted  children  twelve  to 
fourteen  years  old  they  will  continually  be  fur- 
nishing recruits  to  the  ranks  of  the  criminals. 
It  might  as  well  be  recognized,  also,  that  work 
is  the  only  salvation  for  the  boy  to  whom  school 
makes  no  appeal. 

When  the  state  regulates  so  much  of  the  lives 
of  children  that  their  parents  can  not  longer  di- 
rect their  activities,  no  dangerous  loopholes 
should  be  left  in  the  regulations  which  are  en- 
forced. The  state  assumes  a  great  responsibility 
when  it  denies  the  right  of  individual  choice. 
When  the  right  of  securing  work  is  denied  to 
children  the  state  will  sooner  or  later  find  it 
necessary  to  provide  for  them  work  that  is  con- 
sidered both  suitable  and  favorable.  Manual- 
training  schools  of  various  kinds,  open  all  the 
year  and  with  rules  governing  attendance,  will 
be  found  necessary  to  take  the  place  of  the  work 
which   children   are   now   forbidden   to   do. 

Developing  Manliness. — No  one  who  comes 
into   actual   contact   with   boys   can   doubt   that 


REGULATION  OF  OCCUPATIONS    6/ 

the  trade  school,  or  suitable  work  in  which 
money  may  be  earned,  develops  manliness  and 
the  sense  of  responsibility  as  nothing  else  will. 
This  conviction  is  only  strengthened  by  acquaint- 
ance with  so-called  wayward  boys.  Strong  men 
are  made  from  the  boys  who  have  had  to  over- 
come obstacles  and  who  have  thus  grown  strong 
through  actual  achievement.  To  give  children 
no  responsibility  or  possibility  of  other  work 
than  their  school  activities  before  they  are  four- 
teen is  to  handicap  their  entire  future. 

Playgrounds. — The  establishment  of  play- 
grounds in  cities  has  been  beneficial,  but  it  will 
be  many  years  before  they  are  sufficient  in  num- 
ber to  be  accessible  to  all  the  children.  Even  if 
there  were  a  playground  for  every  child,  how- 
ever, this  would  not  be  sufficient.  Work  and 
play  must  alternate,  for  either  alone  is  bad.  The 
boys  who  are  roaming  the  streets  in  hundreds  of 
towns  and  cities  are  just  natural  boys  filled  with 
the  love  of  fun,  with  energy  unlimited,  which 
must  have  some  outlet.  Their  energy  needs 
only  direction  into  safe  channels. 

When  laws  prevent  this,  however,  and  when 
conditions  favor  an  unwholesome  outlet,  a  state 
of  affairs  arises  which  constitutes  a  menace  both 
to  the  boys  and  to  the  whole  community.  When 
a  boy  has  had  nothing  to  do  until  he  is  four- 
teen he  has  developed  a  strong  bent  toward  idle- 
ness and  loafing.     It  is  difficult  to  induce  many 


68  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

boys  to  work  after  such  a  preliminary  course  in 
idleness.  Indeed,  one  can  not  begin  too  early 
to  instil  the  idea  that  every  one  is  created  to 
be  useful,  nor  can  one  begin  too  early  to  place 
responsibility  on  children. 

Habit  of  Work. — The  habit  of  regular  work 
and  the  importance  of  doing  the  work  well  must 
be  instilled  into  children  from  the  earliest  pos- 
sible moment  for  their  own  happiness  and  their 
future  success.  With  each  year  the  child  should 
become  a  more  responsible  person.  Nothing 
will  make  a  child  happier  than  to  have  respon- 
sibility and  to  feel  that  he  is  trusted  and  needed. 
Some  of  the  most  successful  of  probation  offi- 
cers have  realized  this  and  have  enlisted  the 
help  of  older  children  on  probation  in  caring  for 
younger  ones,  and  have  placed  responsibility  on 
them  in  various  other  ways. 

There  is  a  happy  medium  in  the  matter  of 
work  which  both  parents  and  the  state  must  rec- 
ognize if  they  would  prevent  the  making  of 
wayward  children.  No  one  would  desire  to  put 
a  man's  work  on  a  child  or  to  make  a  drudge 
of  him.  But  on  the  other  hand  one  can  not 
safely  leave  him  without  responsibility  or  work 
until  he  is  fourteen,  thereby  losing  some  of  the 
most  valuable  years,  when  the  child  is  most  im- 
pressionable, for  the  formation  of  habits.  No 
satisfactory  solution  of  this  problem  has  yet  been 
evolved.     Careful  study  of  all  legislation  bear- 


REGULATION  OF.  OCCUPATIONS    69 

ing  on  children  is  necessary.  Compulsory  edu- 
cation laws  should  precede  child  labor  laws.  The 
opportunities  for  wholesome  work  for  children 
should  be  investigated  in  every  community. 
Constructive  rather  than  prohibitive  policies  are 
needed  to  safeguard  the  children,  and  it  must 
be  remembered  that  the  question  of  what  chil- 
dren may  do  is  as  important  for  consideration  as 
what  they  may  not  do. 

Freedom  and  Initiative. — An  attempt  to  force 
every  child  into  one  groove  must  have  serious 
effects  on  character.  Conditions  of  life  vary  so 
greatly  that  what  is  best  for  one  person  may  not 
be  best  for  another.  Initiative  and  the  ability 
to  do  what  circumstances  require  are  highly  im- 
portant elements  of  strong  character.  Prohibi- 
tive measures  that  take  away  possibilities  of  in- 
dividual freedom  must  produce  conditions  worse 
than  those  they  are  designed  to  remedy.  If  leg- 
islation is  to  be  helpful  some  opportunity  for 
discrimination  must  be  allowed  those  entrusted 
with  administrative  power. 

The  issuance  of  work  certificates  to  children 
by  school  authorities  is  valuable ;  and  the  school 
authorities  are  best  able  to  do  this  on  account  of 
their  close  knowledge  of  the  children.  Some  de- 
gree of  liberty  could  safely  be  given  them  in 
this  matter.  Laws  specifying  what  children  may 
not  do  should  be  supplemented  by  laws  provid- 
ing  occupations    in   which    they    may    engage. 


;q         jhe  wayward  child 

Many  parents  who  wish  their  children  to  have 
some  employment  in  vacation  time  and  out  of 
school  hours  are  convinced  that  this  is  beneficial 
for  their  children  and  wish  it  on  that  account 
alone.  Some  freedom  should  be  given  these  con- 
scientious parents  in  regard  to  finding  employ- 
ment for  their  children.  In  order  to  protect  chil- 
dren whose  parents  wish  to  use  them  for  their 
own  benefit  it  is  hardly  just  to  put  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  parents  who  are  earnestly  watching 
the  special  needs  of  their  children  from  day  to 
day. 

Placing  Responsibility. — ^To  be  useful  is  the 
law  of  life,  while  to  be  idle  is  to  court  danger  for 
child  or  man.  Most  children  are  destined  to 
have  to  earn  their  living,  and  since  it  is  in  child- 
hood and  youth  that  our  habits  are  formed  it 
seems  obvious  that  this  lesson  should  be  learned 
as  early  as  possible.  There  are  many  good  par- 
ents who  are  amply  able,  if  necessary,  to  sup- 
port their  children  in  idleness,  but  who  see  seri- 
ous disadvantages  in  such  a  course.  There  are 
other  parents  who,  though  able  to  support  their 
children  entirely  until  they  are  fourteen  or  six- 
teen, could  give  them  advantages  otherwise  im- 
possible if  the  children  themselves  could  help  in 
earning  money.  The  majority  of  parents  will 
sacrifice  themselves  for  their  children.  The  ma- 
jority of  parents  may  be  trusted  to  decide  what 
is  best  for  them.  Such  parents  are  seriously 
handicapped  by;  prohibitive  laws  in  regard  to 


REGULATION  OF  OCCUPATIONS    71 

child  labor.  Many  of  them  conscientiously  be- 
lieve that  it  is  easier  for  children  to  begin  work 
gradually  than  to  be  forced  into  it  suddenly. 

There  are  children  whose  only  salvation  seems 
to  be  in  the  line  of  practical  work  of  some  kind. 
Children  can  only  be  dealt  with  successfully 
when  their  individual  characteristics  are  studied. 
Parents  and  teachers  may  safely  be  given  some 
liberty  and  discretion  in  meeting  their  needs.  In 
the  case  of  the  wayward  child  such  discretion  is 
a  necessity. 

Many  of  the  inmates  of  prisons,  in  reviewing 
their  lives  and  giving  what  they  regard  as  causes 
which  led  them  to  criminality,  lay  special  stress 
on  idleness  and  the  lack  of  work.  An  Ameri- 
can, twenty-nine  years  old,  who  has  served  time 
in  both  a  reformatory  and  a  prison  and  who  was 
often  a  truant  in  youth,  says  that  "the  cause  of 
so  many  young  men  being  in  prison  is  idleness, 
which  is  the  foundation  of  most  of  their  crimes." 

A  German,  twenty-nine  years  old,  who  was 
brought  up  in  luxury,  is  educated  and  possesses 
a  college  degree,  who  has  traveled  extensively, 
and  who  is  now  serving  a  term  in  prison  for  vio- 
lation of  game  laws,  has  said:  "I  honestly  believe 
that  if  I  had  been  given  a  practical  education  in- 
stead of  an  academic  one  I  would  have  been  bet- 
ter able  to  strive  with  the  practical,  every-day 
conditions  of  humdrum  life.  May  this  be  a  help 
to  others." 

Another  prison  inmate,  who  is  well  educated 


12  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

but  has  no  trade,  writes:  "Idleness  goes  first 
in  my  downfall  and  drink  follows.  I  am  thirty- 
four  years  old  and  was  born  in  New  York.  I 
supported  my  mother  from  the  time  I  was  sev- 
enteen years  old,  as  she  was  a  widow.  I  went  to 
school  irregularly.  I  was  fond  of  the  water,  but 
had  no  money  to  buy  a  boat.  I  was  arrested  at 
ten  for  stealing  a  small  boat  and  was  sent  to  a 
reformatory  for  five  years.  I  am  now  in  prison 
for  twelve  years.  Good  playgrounds  and  free 
trade  schools  would  keep  the  kids  off  the  streets 
and  out  of  mischief  and  would  help  keep  their 
minds  on  their  work." 

An  American  prisoner,  thirty  years  of  age, 
says,  in  urging  that  children  be  taught  to  work: 
"I  was  never  taught  to  work  and  could  not  do 
anything.  I  was  the  youngest  and  had  my  own 
way  until  my  mother  died." 

Work  Prevents  Crime. — There  can  be  no 
question  but  that  the  education  of  children  in 
the  habit  of  useful  work  has  a  direct  bearing  on 
the  problem  of  crime.  To  carry  the  prohibition 
of  work  to  an  extreme  will  increase  the  number 
of  those  who  will  lead  criminal  lives.  Warden 
McKenty,  of  the  Eastern  Penitentiary,  Pennsyl- 
vania, has  had  many  years  of  experience  with 
the  men  and  women  classed  as  criminals  and  he 
says:  "Work  is  the  best  preventive  of  crime, 
and  if  all  men  were  taught  trades  and  trained 
in  industry  from  childhood  it  would  cut  down 
crime  fifty  per  cent." 


CHAPTER    VI 

THE  HOMELESS   MOTHERLESS   CHILD 

THE  treatment  and  care  of  children  bereft  of 
home  deserves  more  serious  consideration 
than  the  subject  has  yet  had.  For  the  protec- 
tion both  of  the  children  and  the  state  more 
efficient  methods  of  dealing  with  them  must  be 
evolved.  The  child  whose  home  has  been  de- 
stroyed by  drink,  the  separation  of  his  parents 
or  the  death  of  either  or  both  of  them  is  placed 
in  a  position  which  in  many  cases  has  resulted 
in  a  criminal  life. 

Criminals  Handicapped.  —  In  investigations 
into  the  causes  contributing  to  juvenile  delin- 
quency it  has  been  shown  that  two-thirds  of  our 
prison  inmates  began  life  under  the  handicap  of 
no  home  training,  no  mothering,  little  love  and 
no  preparation  for  meeting  life's  temptations. 
Two-thirds  of  those  we  call  criminals  were  in 
childhood  homeless  or  worse.  Is  not  this  the 
strongest  kind  of  evidence  of  the  danger  of  neg- 
lecting or  improperly  treating  children  who  have 
such  possibilities  for  evil,  but  who  also,  it  must 
be  remembered,  have  equal  possibilities  for 
good  ? 

73 


74  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

The  state  has  spent  far  more  on  the  prosecu- 
tion of  these  people  and  their  support  in  prison 
than  it  would  have  cost  to  give  them  the  best 
possible  care  in  childhood.  The  care  of  such 
children  has  hitherto  been  left  principally  in  pri- 
vate hands,  though  the  matter  is  obviously  of 
the  greatest  importance  to  the  state  as  well  as 
to  the  children  themselves. 

Orphan  Asylums. — Institutions  for  the  care  of 
orphans  and  half-orphans  have  been  founded  by 
charitable  people  wherever  such  people  have 
chosen  to  place  them.  There  has  been  no  at- 
tempt to  learn  how  great  is  the  need  for  such 
institutions  nor  to  see  that  all  children  are  cared 
for.  There  has  been  no  educational  supervision 
of  such  institutions.  Where  state  appropriations 
are  given  them  there  may  be  official  visits  at  in- 
tervals, but  these  are  necessarily  superficial. 

Directors  of  the  poor  find  such  homes  as  they 
can  for  orphans,  but  they  are  unable  to  provide 
adequate  supervision  of  the  homes  and  children 
after  placement. 

Home  Finding  Societies  founded  by  charita- 
ble people  have  done  some  good  work,  but  have 
been  limited  in  their  ability  to  cover  the  need. 

Home  Finding. — In  places  where  the  state  has 
assumed  the  duty  of  finding  homes  there  is  still 
much  to  do  to  bring  the  system  up  to  a  standard 
which  will  place  the  state's  child  on  an  equal 
footing  with  other  children.     Those  whom  the 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  75 

state  adopts  should  not  be  looked  down  on  or 
treated  with  less  regard  than  children  who  have 
parents.  The  care  of  homeless  children  is  too 
important  not  to  be  provided  for  by  state  regu- 
lation of  the  most  far-reaching  kind.  There 
should  be  no  loopholes  for  neglect,  as  there  al- 
ways are  when  any  activity  is  left  to  the  volun- 
tary effort  of  individuals. 

The  provision  of  shelter,  food  and  clothing  is 
not  sufficient.  Those  who  receive  no  more  than 
that  are  deprived  of  a  fundamental  need  of  child- 
hood. It  is  mothering  that  every  child  should 
have.  Personal  interest  and  personal  care  are 
essential. 

Arrests  for  Vagrancy. — The  state  has  Inflicted 
a  great  wrong  on  children  in  the  arrest  of  home- 
less ones  for  vagrancy  and  in  committing  them 
to  reform  schools  and  prisons  for  having  no 
homes.  From  the  ranks  of  children  so  treated 
come  many  of  our  deserting  husbands  who  have 
never  known  what  home  life  is  and  who  have  no 
conception  of  its  duties. 

Whether  the  children  who  are  deprived  of 
home  life  shall  enter  the  ranks  of  criminals  or 
whether  they  shall  receive  such  care  as  will  make 
them  good  citizens  is  the  question  every  state 
must  face.  These  children  are  a  source  of  dan- 
ger to  society  and  an  expense  to  the  state  if 
they  are  neglected  or  merely  housed  and  fed. 
They  are  not  responsible  for  their  own  condi- 


76  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

tion;  they  are  helpless  and  homeless,  but  if  left 
alone  do  not  long  continue  so.  They  some- 
times come  from  good  families,  for  in  American 
life  changes  are  rapid  and  the  wheel  of  fortune 
makes  many  revolutions. 

What  the  State  May  Do. — What  should  the 
state  do  for  these  children?  It  can  do  much  to 
prevent  children  from  having  drinking  parents. 
It  can  refuse  to  license  saloons  or  the  sale  of 
liquor.  The  continuance  of  this  menace  to  child- 
hood rests  entirely  w^ith  the  control  of  the  state. 
If  the  state  so  decrees  it  can  eliminate  the  drink- 
ing parent,  and  in  so  doing  it  w^ill  save  thousands 
of  children  from  conditions  v^hich  make  crim- 
inals of  them.  If  licenses  for  the  sale  of  liquor 
were  refused  and  its  manufacture  regulated  the 
drinking  parent  would  become  obsolete.  In  the 
cases  of  those  parents  who  now  have  the  habit, 
treatment  should  be  given  which  would  cure 
them,  instead  of  short  imprisonments.  The 
state  should  also  provide  means  of  caring  for  the 
children  of  drinking  parents,  so  that  they  need 
not  suffer  as  they  do  now. 

The  state  can  protect  orphans  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  Home  Finding  Department  under 
state  control.  Lists  should  be  made  of  every 
family  in  the  state  willing  to  adopt  a  child  and 
of  every  good  home  where  a  child  would  be 
taken  at  the  state's  expense.  Every  known  fact 
concerning  a  child's    parentage  should    be  re- 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  17 

corded,  and  there  should  be  supervision  of  chil- 
dren wherever  they  are  placed.  There  are  pri- 
vate homes  sufficient  to  take  care  of  all  home- 
less children,  if  only  proper  effort  were  made 
to  find  them.  Institutions  should  only  be  used 
for  temporary  purposes. 

The  Juvenile  Court  in  Pennsylvania  has  the 
option  of  placing  children  with  families  instead 
of  in  institutions,  and  in  such  a  case  the  county 
pays  to  the  family  the  same  amount  that  would 
be  paid  in  an  institution.  This,  of  course,  is  not 
sufficient,  but  it  is  one  step  toward  recognition 
of  the  possibility  of  finding  family  homes  for  or- 
phans. Some  states  have  already  gone  further 
in  this  direction  by  establishing  mothers'  pen- 
sions, which  enable  children  to  have  a  mother's 
care  when,  through  poverty,  or  the  death  or  de- 
sertion of  their  father,  they  would  otherwise  be 
deprived  of  it. 

In  the  cases  of  the  children  of  divorced  par- 
ents, the  state  should  insure  the  protection  of 
those  who  are  thus  deprived  of  the  influence  of 
a  good  home.  The  causes  that  have  made  di- 
vorce so  prevalent  should  be  studied  in  order 
that  they  may  be  removed  and  this  menace  to 
children  be  minimized  as  much  as  possible.  Uni- 
form legislation  concerning  marriage  and  di- 
vorce is  greatly  needed,  but  preceding  that  there 
should  be  adequate  education  of  youth  in  the 
right  ideals  of  marriage  and  the  home.    The  neg- 


78  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

lect  of  education  in  this  vital  subject  has  contrib- 
uted to  the  making  of  many  unsuitable  marriages 
which  have  resulted  in  separation  or  divorce. 

Homes  are  the  foundation  of  society.  If  the 
making  of  homes  is  to  be  successful  they  must 
be  founded  in  the  proper  spirit  and  with  full 
realization  of  the  responsibilities  and  duties  in- 
volved. 

Protection  of  Children. — To  prevent  our  hav- 
ing wayward  children,  homeless  children  must 
have  adequate  protection,  care  and  guidance.  It 
should  be  the  state's  duty  to  afford  these  chil- 
dren care  as  nearly  as  possible  similar  to  that 
which  they  would  receive  from  a  good  father  and 
mother.  If  this  end  is  to  be  achieved  the  state 
must  assume  the  responsibility  of  caring  for  or- 
phans instead  of  leaving  the  matter  to  the  spo- 
radic efforts  of  private  individuals. 

A  prison  inmate  thirty  years  old,  who  was  left 
an  orphan  at  five  and  sent  to  an  orphanage  and 
who  is  now  imprisoned  for  murder,  writes:  "I 
am  satisfied  if  I  had  had  a  good  home  with  some 
one  to  love  me  when  I  was  a  child  I  could  tell 
a  different  story." 

The  real  reason  for  the  criminal  lives  of  two- 
thirds  of  our  prison  inmates  lies  in  the  fact  that 
they  were  homeless  as  children.  They  were 
not  abnormal,  they  did  not  have  inborn  criminal 
tendencies,  but  no  good  seeds  were  planted  in 
their  youthful  minds  and,  as  will  always  happen 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  79 

in  such  a  case,  weeds  sprang  up  instead.  Deter- 
mined, well  organized,  systematic  effort  should 
be  made  by  every  state  to  prevent  the  homeless 
children  of  to-day  from  meeting  the  same  fate 
that  overtook  those  of  a  generation  ago.  And 
always  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  dividing 
line  between  the  homeless  and  the  wayward  child 
is  almost  invisible. 

Evidence  from  the  Prisons. — Out  of  three 
hundred  and  ninety-five  inmates  in  the  Eastern 
Penitentiary  in  Pennsylvania  one  hundred  and 
sixty-three  were  found  to  be  orphans  or  half- 
orphans,  thirteen  were  children  of  divorced  par- 
ents, fifteen  were  illegitimate  children,  sixty-one 
had  drinking  parents,  so  that  out  of  the  three 
hundred  and  ninety-five,  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
two  were  in  childhood  deprived  of  normal  par- 
ental influence  and  home  life. 

From  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four  inmates 
in  the  Minnesota  Penitentiary  three  hundred 
and  ten  were  orphans  or  half-orphans,  fifty-five 
were  children  of  divorced  parents  and  three  hun- 
dred and  nine  had  drinking  parents,  so  that  out 
of  seven  hundred  and  ninety-four,  six  hundred 
and  seventy-four  were  in  childhood  without  any 
normal  home  life. 

From  one  hundred  and  seventy-four  inmates 
in  the  Illinois  Penitentiary  seventy-nine  were 
orphans  or  half-orphans,  eighteen  were  children 
of  divorced  parents,  fifty-five  had  drinking  par- 


80  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

ents  and  four  were  illegitimate.  Thus  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty-six  prisoners  out  of  one  hundred 
and  seventy-four  had  in  childhood  no  normal 
home  life. 

From  fifteen  inmates  in  a  Texas  prison  five 
were  orphans  or  half-orphans,  two  were  children 
of  divorced  parents  and  three  had  drinking  par- 
ents, so  that  exactly  two-thirds  of  them  had  been 
deprived  of  normal  home  life  in  childhood. 

Out  of  six  hundred  and  fifty-six  inmates  in 
the  Auburn  and  Clinton  Prisons  in  New  York 
three  hundred  and  six  were  orphans  or  half- 
orphans,  forty-six  had  divorced  parents,  two 
hundred  and  five  had  drinking  parents  and  six 
were  illegitimate,  which  makes  a  total  of  five 
hundred  and  sixty-three  who  in  childhood  en- 
joyed no  normal  home  life. 

Thus  out  of  a  total  of  two  thousand  and  thirty- 
four  prisoners  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty-five 
were  either  homeless  or  deprived  of  parental 
care  in  their  childhood.  Could  more  convincing 
testimony  be  given  as  to  the  value  and  necessity 
of  this  influence  and  guidance  to  every  child? 

Mothers  Versus  Institutions. — The  greatest 
men  of  every  age  have  testified  that  they  owed 
everything  to  their  mothers.  The  personal  care 
of  a  loving  and  wise  mother  is  the  greatest  need 
of  every  child.  No  benefit  can  compare  with  it. 
The  mother  and  father  are  God's  institutions  and 
for  that  reason  alone  would  be  necessary  for  the 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  81 

child  whom  He  has  put  under  their  care.  If 
mothers  and  fathers  fail,  then  their  children  fail 
also.  The  foundations  of  life  are  weakened  when 
mothers  and  fathers  are  relieved  of  their  duty 
and  other  agencies  substituted. 

It  is  not  the  elaborateness  of  a  home  but  the 
character  of  the  parents  which  makes  it  good 
or  bad.  Mothers  are  the  natural  guardians  of 
infancy  and  childhood.  A  child's  own  mother 
comes  first,  but  if  he  is  deprived  of  his  own 
mother  the  next  best  thing  is  the  care  of  some 
other  motherly  woman.  Many  childless  women 
have  mothers'  hearts  and  longings  though  their 
arms  are  empty. 

Need  for  Mothers. — The  recognition  that 
mothers  are  the  greatest  need  for  every  child 
is  gradually  changing  the  old  methods  of  car- 
ing for  orphan  and  half-orphan  children.  When 
the  death,  desertion  or  imprisonment  of  a  father 
forces  his  wife  to  assume  the  duties  of  a  bread- 
winner she  necessarily  has  to  sacrifice  her  activ- 
ities as  mother  and  home-maker.  Her  children 
thus  are  left  without  care  or  guidance  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  day.  Out  of  two  thou- 
sand and  thirty-four  prison  inmates  four  hundred 
and  seventy-six  were  found  to  have  had  mothers 
who  had  to  support  the  family.  One-fourth  of 
these  prisoners  had  to  be  deprived  of  a  mother's 
care  because  their  mothers  had  to  earn  their  liv- 
ing.   These  were  God's  children  as  fully  as  are 


82  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

more  fortunate  ones;  these  were  also  future  cit- 
izens of  the  state,  whose  welfare  as  such  should 
be  of  the  greatest  importance. 

Breaking  Up  o£  Families. — Mothers  fully  qual- 
ified to  bring  up  their  children  well  have  had  to 
see  them  placed  in  different  institutions  while 
they  worked  to  contribute  scantily  to  their  sup- 
port. Mothers  whose  deepest  wish  has  been  to 
care  for  their  children  have  had  to  endure  see- 
ing them  forcibly  removed  and  their  homes 
broken  up,  because  while  these  mothers  worked 
their  children  had  become  truants  or  committed 
offenses  resulting  from  lack  of  parental  care. 
Liberal  bequests  from  charitable  people  desiring 
to  help  children  have  made  possible  many  insti- 
tutions for  them.  No  bequests  have  been  made 
to  help  mothers  maintain  homes  for  their  own 
children,  except  in  occasional  instances  where 
allowances  are  temporarily  given  mothers  by 
charitable  organizations. 

Mothers'  Pensions. — Mother  and  pauper  are 
not  words  that  it  should  be  possible  to  apply  to 
the  same  person.  A  mother  is  the  servant  of 
God  and  of  the  state,  bearing  and  rearing  the 
future  citizens  of  both  the  earthly  and  the  heav- 
enly kingdoms.  Her  function  is  more  important 
than  that  of  the  soldier  who  saves  the  state — 
she  insures  its  continuance  and  its  quality. 
Mothers  should  be  honored  above  all  others,  not 
sentimentall}^  in  song  or  poem,  but  in  actual  fact. 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  83 

Mothers  must  sooner  or  later  be  accorded  the 
place  they  alone  can  fill  in  the  councils  of  the 
home,  church,  school  and  state;  and  mothers, 
whether  rich  or  poor,  must  be  given  protection 
sufficient  to  enable  them  to  perform  their  God- 
given  duties  to  their  children. 

When  we  recognize  the  need  for  pensioning 
soldiers,  teachers,  municipal  employees,  who 
have  rendered  long  and  faithful  service,  we 
ought  surely  also  to  recognize  the  need  for  pen- 
sioning needy  mothers,  remembering  that  they 
render  the  greatest  service  to  the  state.  Such 
pensions  are  available  only  for  mothers  who  are 
proper  guardians  of  their  children.  They  are 
not  given  in  the  guise  of  charity — which  no  self- 
respecting  mother  could  be  happy  in  accepting — 
but  because  the  child's  future  is  of  the  utmost 
importance  to  the  state,  and  because  the  mother's 
value  is  recognized  in  the  matter  of  shaping  and 
giving  direction  to  the  child's  future. 

Even  if  mothers'  pensions  involved  a  large  ex- 
penditure they  would  be  worth  all  they  might 
cost,  on  account  of  the  consequent  saving  in 
prosecutions  and  care  of  men  and  women  who 
are  leading  criminal  lives  as  a  result  of  having 
been  deprived  of  parental  care  in  their  youth. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  in  Kansas  City  it  has  proved 
more  economical  to  give  mothers  an  allowance 
for  the  care  of  their  children  than  to  support 
them  in  institutions. 


84  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Administration  o£  Pensions. — The  mother's 
allowance  is  a  more  accurate  name  for  this  sys- 
tem than  mothers'  pensions,  because  in  this  case 
it  is  money  paid  over  for  service  being  rendered, 
whereas  a  pension  is  paid  for  service  that  has 
already  been  rendered.  The  administration  of 
the  system  should  not  be  connected  w^ith  any 
state  or  local  board  of  charity  or  any  charitable 
agency.  In  some  states  it  has  been  placed  under 
the  control  of  juvenile  courts  or  common  pleas 
courts.  In  Pennsylvania  the  entire  management 
is  given  to  seven  trustees  in  each  county,  all 
women,  and  appointed  by  the  governor.  The 
state  then  gives  to  each  county  for  pensions  an 
amount  equal  to  that  appropriated  by  the  county 
itself  for  the  same  purpose.  Not  over  three 
thousand  dollars  may  be  spent  on  administra- 
tion, and  annual  reports  must  be  made  to  the 
governor. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  In  Inaugurating 
mothers'  pensions  no  mistakes  will  be  made. 
This  new  method,  however,  is  founded  on  com- 
mon sense  and  its  successful  evolution  can  only 
be  a  question  of  time.  It  will  remove  anxiety 
from  many  homes — from  homes  where  women 
can  scarce  gather  enough  together  for  daily 
needs,  where  fathers  with  unending  toil  are  un- 
able to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  their  fam- 
ilies in  case  sickness  or  death  should  keep  them 
from  work. 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  85 

The  laws  concerning  mothers'  pensions  pro- 
vide that  women  receiving  an  allowance  from 
the  state  may  not  be  employed  outside  the  home. 
This  will  serve  to  prevent  truancy  and  crimes 
formerly  committed  during  a  mother's  necessary 
absence  from  the  home.  This  method  proceeds 
from  a  recognition  that  the  mother  is  more  val- 
uable as  the  guardian  and  guide  of  her  child 
than  she  is  when  she  is  merely  earning  money 
for  his  support.  It  also  involves  recognition  of 
the  fact  that  child  nurture  is  the  primary  func- 
tion of  every  mother. 

In  Chicago,  where  the  system  has  been  in  use 
for  some  time,  the  estimated  financial  saving  is 
four  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  the  month  on 
each  child.  But  even  if  this  method  involved  a 
larger  expenditure  than  the  old  one  it  would  still 
be  worth  the  cost. 

When  the  state  assumes  the  financial  support 
of  the  children  it  is  possible  to  require  of  the 
mothers  helped  the  best  care  they  are  able  to 
give.  Doubtless  many  mothers  will  ask  for  help 
who  do  not  measure  up  to  the  highest  standards 
of  motherhood,  but  if  they  possess  the  essential 
qualities  of  a  good  mother  ways  will  be  found 
of  giving  them  substantial  help  in  home-making 
and  efficient  child  nurture. 

Murder,  the  Result. — A  mother  of  three  chil- 
dren, one  of  whom  committed  murder,  tells  in 
these  words  the  story  of  her  child's  life  and  the 


86  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

reasons  for  his  downfall:  "J^^hn's  father  went 
away  when  he  was  three  years  old.  I  was  left 
with  three  children,  two  of  whom  worked  and 
helped  to  pay  household  expenses.  If  I  had 
stayed  at  home  to  care  for  John  our  table  would 
have  been  bare.  I  did  what  any  other  mother 
would  have  done;  I  went  to  work.  Any  old  job 
that  paid  me  a  few  dollars  weekly  was  welcome. 
The  boy  grew  up  as  best  he  could.  I  got  break- 
fast at  daybreak,  then  went  to  my  work,  and  re- 
turned home  to  get  supper  and  wash  the  dishes. 
When  he  arrived  at  the  proper  age,  John 
shunned  schools.  He  said  boys  made  fun  of  him 
because  he  was  backward.  I  encouraged  him 
but  he  dodged  the  schoolroom.  And  then  came 
street-corner  acquaintances,  boys  he  would  not 
have  met  had  I  been  able  to  remain  at  home  and 
give  him  a  mother's  care.  I  was  heart-broken 
when  a  policeman  stopped  me  on  the  street  one 
morning  and  told  me  my  boy  had  been  arrested. 
My  boy  was  fifteen  years  old  in  March,  1910,  and 
in  the  following  March  he  was  sentenced  to  the 
workhouse.  He  served  two  years  and  two 
months  there.  He  had  broken  into  the  store- 
rooms of  a  hardware  company  and  stolen  a  re- 
volver and  a  box  of  cartridges.  I  pleaded  with 
the  judge  to  send  my  boy  to  an  industrial  school 
where  he  would  be  with  lads  of  his  age.  The 
answer  was  a  sentence  of  two  years  and  six 
months  in  the  workhouse.  His  companions  there 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  87 

were  murderers,  robbers,  hardened  criminals  of 
every  type.  These  men  were  associated  with 
him  in  the  tailor  shop  and  in  the  yard.  When 
his  sentence  expired  he  was  a  different  boy.  I 
believe  he  could  have  been  a  good  boy  if  he 
could  have  had  a  mother's  care  and  if  he  had 
not  been  forced  into  association  with  criminals." 

Could  there  be  a  stronger  plea  for  financial 
help  for  such  mothers  as  this  one,  so  as  to  allow 
of  their  being  with  their  children?  The  prac- 
tise of  sentencing  youths  to  association  with 
criminals  is  a  crime  against  them  and  against 
society  which  must  cease  as  soon  as  its  terrible 
consequences  are  fully  understood.  The  punish- 
ment of  this  boy's  theft  by  sentencing  him  to 
prison  did  not  prevent  further  stealing  but  only 
gave  him  enforced  lessons  in  greater  criminality. 
There  are  thousands  of  cases  similar  in  every 
way  to  this  one. 

Parent-Teacher  Associations.  —  The  parent- 
teacher  associations  in  connection  with  schools 
and  churches  which  the  National  Congress  of 
Mothers  has  been  organizing  since  1897  are 
schools  for  parents.  They  may  be  organized 
wherever  mothers  live.  The  programs  outlined 
for  these  associations  cover  all  phases  of  the 
child's  physical,  mental  and  moral  development. 
Helpful  books  are  recommended  and  parents  de- 
siring special  advice  may  have  it.  The  educa- 
tional system  designed  for  children  has  in  this 


88  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

way  been  supplemented  by  an  educational  sys- 
tem for  parents,  fostered  by  the  National  Con- 
gress of  Mothers  and  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Education.  Any  parent  who  desires  help  may 
obtain  it  without  cost. 

The  mother  who  receives  financial  aid  may 
also  be  given  suggestions  and  help  in  teaching 
her  children  honesty,  self-control  and  other  qual- 
ities which  are  fundamental  to  good  citizenship. 
Some  state  boards  of  health  are  already  giving 
valuable  instruction  to  mothers  concerning  the 
care  of  babies.  Child  welfare  commissions  with 
parents'  educational  bureaus  in  each  state  could 
disseminate  other  information  just  as  important. 

Methods  of  the  past  have  been  responsible  for 
making  criminals.  If  attention  is  turned  to  sav- 
ing wayward  children,  crime  can  be  prevented 
as  in  no  other  way,  and  it  will  have  to  be  remem- 
bered that  parental  care  can  not  safely  be  left 
out  of  the  life  of  any  child. 

LACK     OF     PARENTAL     CARE WRITTEN     BY     PRISON 

INMATES. 

American,  twenty-five:  "Mother  died  when  I 
was  a  year  old.  Stepmother.  Drinking  and  bad 
company  caused  my  crime."     (Larceny.) 

A  Russian,  aged  fifty-two,  who  has  served  five 
terms  in  prison,  writes:  "Never  had  parents  or 
any  one  to  lielp  me." 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  89 

American,  thirty-one:  "Father  died  when  I 
was  seven.  Was  in  orphan  asykim.  I  was  sent 
to  a  county  jail  for  thirty  days  when  twenty-two, 
on  account  of  a  drunken  row.  A  good  home  and 
no  Hquor  would  have  helped  me." 

American,  fifty-five:  "I  do  not  remember  my 
parents  and  never  went  to  school  or  church. 
...  I  committed  murder  at  fifty-one.  I  never 
had  any  bringing  up.  That  and  liquor  are  the 
causes  of  my  crime." 

American,  thirty-four:  "Mother  died  when  I 
was  seven.  I  was  brought  up  in  an  orphan  asy- 
lum. Liquor  was  the  whole  cause  of  my  trou- 
ble. A  more  cheerful  home  and  a  mother  would 
have  helped  me  more  than  anything  else." 

American,  forty-seven:  "Father  died  when  I 
was  two,  mother  when  I  was  eight.  I  did  not 
go  to  school.  My  father  was  a  white  slave- 
holder, my  mother  was  colored.  I  am  serving 
a  life  sentence." 

American,  twenty-four:  "My  father  died  when 
I  was  nine,  my  mother  when  I  was  sixteen.  I 
began  work  at  eleven.  I  was  arrested  at  nine- 
teen for  disorderly  conduct.  .  .  .  When  I  lost 
my  mother  I  lost  my  best  friend." 

American,  twenty-seven:  "I  never  had  any 
home.  If  my  mother  had  not  died  when  I  was 
only  eight  years  old  I  would  not  be  here  now." 
This  prisoner  began  work  at  six  years  of  age; 
he  never  learned  any  trade. 


90  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

American,  twenty-one:  "My  mother  died 
when  I  was  young.  I  committed  larceny  at 
eighteen,  caused  by  my  ignorance  and  my  want- 
ing money  to  live  in  luxury.  I  was  sent  to  prison 
for  three  months.  I  have  served  three  terms. 
If  my  mother  had  lived  I  would  never  have  seen 
prison." 

An  American  of  thirty-four  tells  of  being  left 
an  orphan  at  eight,  in  charge  of  a  charitable  so- 
ciety. He  was  first  arrested  at  fifteen  for  at- 
tempted burglary  and  was  sent  to  prison.  He 
says :  "I  have  served  seven  term.s.  Institutions 
are  dens  of  immorality  and  graft.  A  helping 
hand  at  the  right  time  would  have  helped  me  to 
live  an  honest  life." 

A  native  of  British  Guiana,  aged  thirty-three, 
who  was  left  an  orphan  when  ten  months  old, 
writes:  "I  never  went  to  school  but  two  years 
in  my  life.  I  was  in  an  almshouse  for  a  time. 
Necessity  caused  by  my  being  a  gamin  was  the 
reason  of  my  first  offense.  I  was  sent  to  a  re- 
formatory when  seven  or  eight.  The  influence 
was  prejudicial.  I  have  served  several  terms  in 
prison.  It  is  seldom  if  ever  that  a  person  who 
has  been  in  prison  is  allowed  to  lead  an  honest 
life.  Police  information  to  employers  is  one  of 
the  main  features  of  trouble  for  the  ex-convict. 
Reformatories  do  not  ameliorate  incipient  crim- 
inals.   They  make  them." 


THE  HOMELESS  CHILD  91 

American,  thirty-nine :  "My  mother  died  when 
I  was  seven.  I  stole  to  get  more  money  for 
the  girls.  I  was  caught  and  sent  to  a  reforma- 
tory for  a  year.  This  was  bad  for  me.  Then  I 
stole  more.  I  was  sent  to  prison  for  four  years 
and  then  for  fifteen  years.  Only  one  mother  and 
father  out  of  ten  thousand  ever  tell  their  chil- 
dren what  is  the  greatest  danger  in  life.  Learned 
people  should  spread  information  as  to  what  is 
the  greatest  danger  to  boys  and  girls  under 
eighteen.     In  prison  a  man  learns  everything." 

Negro,  forty-two:  "My  mother  died  when  I 
was  seven.  My  stepmother  said  she  did  not 
like  other  people's  children.  I  was  homeless  and 
friendless  and  at  twenty-two  I  stole.  I  was  sent 
to  prison  for  eight  months.  I  do  not  drink.  I 
have  needed  work  and  a  helping  hand." 

American,  twenty-one:  "My  mother  died 
when  I  was  seven.  I  learned  no  trade  and  stole 
at  eighteen.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for 
twenty-three  months.  The  influence  was  bad. 
Am  now  in  prison  for  two  and  a  half  years.  I 
had  no  one  to  advise  or  restrain  me  or  be  kind 
to  me.  I  was  weak  and  did  not  know  how  to 
say  no." 

American,  forty:  "My  father  drank,  my 
mother  worked  out  by  day.  Home  was  a  house 
of  many  troubles.  I  had  little  education.  I  was 
in  an  orphan  asylum  for  some  months.     When 


92  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

thirty-one  I  was  arrested  for  assault  while  drunk 
and  was  sent  to  jail.  The  place  was  weakening. 
Rum  was  the  cause  of  my  downfall." 

American,  twenty-three:  "My  father  drank 
and  my  mother  worked  out.  I  attended  school 
irregularly,  and  never  attended  church  or  Sun- 
day-school or  learned  the  Lord's  Prayer  or  Ten 
Commandments.  I  w^as  arrested  at  fifteen  for 
being  drunk.  I  was  sent  to  prison  and  have 
served  two  terms." 

American,  twenty:  "My  parents  drank.  My 
father  did  not  support  the  family  and  mother 
was  employed  outside  the  home.  When  they 
were  there  it  was  not  pleasant,  for  they  were 
drinking,  quarreling"  and  swearing  all  the  time. 
I  spent  my  evenings  on  the  street  and  in  bad 
company.  I  was  in  an  orphan  asylum  for  a 
while.  I  stole  at  fourteen  because  I  had  no 
home,  no  one  to  care  for  me  and  was  in  bad 
company.  I  was  sent  to  a  House  of  Refuge  for 
nineteen  months.  The  influence  was  bad.  When 
I  got  out  I  had  no  work,  no  home  or  friends 
and  was  forced  to  steal." 


CHAPTER    VII 

BOYISH  PRANKS  TREATED  AS  CRIMES  MAKE 
CRIMINALS 

THE  instances  that  will  here  be  cited  of 
the  consequences  of  treating  boyish  pranks 
as  crimes  are  actual  and  typical  cases  that  have 
come  to  light  in  investigation  of  the  causes  lead- 
ing to  a  criminal  life. 

Turning  Points  in  Life. — A  twelve-year-old 
boy  in  1848  broke  a  car  window  for  fun,  "just 
to  see  if  he  could  hit  it."  It  was  a  boyish  prank 
which  might  have  caused  serious  injury,  but  the 
boy  himself  did  not  realize  the  gravity  of  his 
deed.  He  was  punished  by  being  sent  to  prison. 
The  influence  of  his  companions  there  was  so 
bad  that  it  changed  his  entire  life,  most  of  which 
has  been  spent  in  prison.  The  punishment  in- 
flicted by  the  court  amounted  simply  to  an  en- 
forced education  in  crime.  This  man's  life  was 
ruined  because  when  he  was  a  mischievous  boy 
and  it  was  possible  to  save  him,  no  one  knew 
how  to  go  about  doing  it.  In  order  to  "protect" 
society  this  child  was  forced  surely  into  the  ranks 
of  professional  criminals. 

Commitment  to  prison  at  the  age  of  twelve 
93 


94  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

amounts  simply  to  a  sentence  to  become  a  pro- 
fessional criminal.  No  child  would  be  strong 
enough  to  become  anything  else. 

In  another  case  a  seven-year-old  boy  was  sent 
to  a  reform  school  for  ten  years  for  using  liquor 
and  cigarettes.  As  a  result  of  the  influence  and 
associations  of  the  reform  school  he  has  served 
live  terms  in  prison  and  at  thirty  years  of  age 
looks  back  on  his  past  as  an  education  for  a  life 
of  crime. 

Mistakes  such  as  this  in  the  treatment  of  small 
boys  are  too  serious  in  their  effects  to  be  al- 
lowed to  continue.  Just  such  mistakes  have 
filled  the  ranks  of  the  professional  criminals  of 
to-day. 

A  boy  sixteen  years  of  age  was  arrested  for 
stealing  watermelons.  The  punishment  given 
him  was  ten  years  and  six  months  in  a  reforma- 
tory. As  a  result  of  this  he  has  since  served  two 
terms  in  prison.  He  says :  "If  you  want  to 
make  a  criminal  put  the  first  offender  in  a  place 
where  they  treat  him  as  brutally  as  I  was  treated 
eight  or  ten  years  ago." 

Stealing  watermelons  is  not  to  be  encouraged, 
but  the  result  of  the  treatment  for  it  in  this  case 
was  a  serious  matter  for  the  state.  One  man 
who  was  sent  to  prison  when  ten  years  old  says, 
in  pleading  for  more  intelligent  treatment  of 
ofifenders:  "Don't,  for  God's  sake,  send  a  young 
boy  to  prison  if  you  want  to  reform  him.     Sus- 


BOYISH  PRANKS  95. 

pend  sentence  on  him,  give  him  another  chance, 
three  or  four  if  necessary,  but  don't  put  him  away 
among  a  lot  of  hardened  criminals." 

A  ten-year-old  boy  was  guilty  of  stealing  some 
fruit.  He  was  arrested  and  tried  in  the  same 
manner  as  if  he  were  a  grown  man  instead  of  an 
undersized  lad  of  ten  who  had  no  realization  of 
what  that  boyish  prank  would  lead  to.  His  sen- 
tence meant  that  a  compulsory  education  in 
crime  was  his  punishment  for  his  misdeed. 

An  eleven-year-old  boy  was  arrested  for  steal- 
ing some  peaches  from  a  farmer's  wagon.  It 
was  the  turning  point  in  his  life.  He  was  given 
five  years  in  a  reformatory  for  this  trifling  mis- 
deed. Certainly  it  could  have  been  corrected 
without  ruining  his  future  life. 

Serious  Results. — The  treatment  given  this 
boy  was  out  of  proportion  to  his  fault,  for  it 
turned  his  whole  life  toward  criminality.  It  was 
a  mistake  to  confine  this  boy  in  a  prison  cell 
in  the  first  place,  and  it  was  a  greater  mistake 
to  send  him  to  a  reformatory  for  five  years.  If 
the  magistrate  who  committed  the  child  to  prison 
had  instead  talked  kindly  but  seriously  with  him 
and  had  found  some  good  man  or  woman  who 
would  have  been  a  friend  and  adviser  to  him, 
the  result  would  have  been  very  different  for 
the  boy.  In  this  case  the  treatment  was  pun- 
ishment for  a  given  offense,  not  prevention  of 
any  further  wrongdoing. 


96  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

A  boy  of  thirteen,  whose  favorite  books  were 
of  the  Deadwood  Dick  and  Nick  Carter  type, 
was  once  inspired  to  imitate  the  characters  he 
was  reading  about.  He  had  no  idea  of  the  seri- 
ousness of  what  he  was  doing.  He  was  simply 
living  out  the  stories  he  read  of  crime  and 
thieves.  Before  long  he  found  himself  in  a  peni- 
tentiary, and  he  says  of  that  experience :  "I 
learned  more  about  thieving  in  one  year  than 
could  be  learned  out  of  books  in  twenty  years." 
Any  one  possessing  insight  into  boy  nature 
would  have  directed  the  life  of  such  a  youth  into 
safer  channels  in  a  more  efficient  way  than  the 
one  that  was  actually  adopted. 

A  ten-year-old  was  arrested  for  stealing  bar- 
rels for  an  election  bonfire.  He  was  sent  to  a 
House  of  Refuge  for  eighteen  months.  He 
writes :  "It  ruined  me.  I  have  served  four  terms 
in  prison." 

Instances  similar  to  these  have  been  the  be- 
ginning of  a  criminal  career  for  many  who  are 
now  prison  inmates.  On  the  other  hand,  few 
are  the  men  in  honored  positions  to-day  who 
can  not  look  back  on  childish  deeds  fully  as  seri- 
ous. A  different  and  a  happier  fate  presided 
over  the  latter  men,  and  that  is  the  only  dif- 
ference discoverable.  Boys  will  make  mistakes 
and  do  wrong,  but  they  are  only  boys,  and  in 
judging  them  we  should  remember  that  they 
have  not  reached  years  of  maturity  and  discre- 


BOYISH  PRANKS  97 

tion.  It  would  seem  that  the  state  erred  more 
seriously  than  the  boys  in  instances  such  as 
those  here  cited,  for  it  is  not  unreasonable  to 
think  that  the  state  should  by  all  means  provide 
for  such  cases  effective  and  sensible  methods  for 
the  prevention  of  future  offenses.  In  nine  cases 
out  of  ten  no  punishment  at  all  for  such  mis- 
deeds w^ould  show  better  results  in  making  de- 
cent citizens  than  do  the  punishments  actually 
given. 

Entire  Lives  Wrecked. — In  July,  1913,  in  New 
York,  two  high-school  boys  of  sixteen  were  con- 
victed of  stealing  and  were  sentenced  to  serve 
terms  of  twenty  years  in  the  Elmira  Reforma- 
tory. The  boys  explained  that  they  had  stolen 
to  get  sufficient  money  for  a  college  education. 
No  one  can  read  of  sentences  like  these  without 
rebelling  at  a  system  which  makes  such  treat- 
ment of  human  beings  legal.  Stealing  is  a 
crime,  but  wrecking  child  life  is  also  a  crime. 
These  two  boys  of  sixteen  were  still  in  the  form- 
ative period  of  life  and  it  would  have  yet  been 
possible  to  make  useful  citizens  of  them.  They 
made  a  misstep,  but  had  they  been  guilty  of 
manslaughter  their  punishment  could  not  have 
been  more  severe.  They  committed  a  crime 
against  property,  but  their  punishment  was  a 
crime  against  immortal  souls,  for  they  can  never 
overcome  the  handicap  placed  on  them.  All 
hope  and  all  desire  to  improve  must  disappear 


98  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

under  such  a  sentence.  When  they  come  out  of 
the  reformatory  at  thirty-six  years  of  age  youth 
will  long  be  past,  they  will  have  no  friends  save 
lawbreakers  of  every  kind,  and  rankling  in  their 
hearts  will  be  the  sense  of  the  injustice  and  se- 
verity of  such  a  sentence  imposed  on  mere  boys. 
At  thirty-six  years  of  age,  with  twenty  years  in 
a  reformatory  back  of  them,  without  friends  or 
experience  in  the  world  of  1933,  what  future  can 
open  out  before  them  but  the  only  life  they  will 
know — a  life  of  crime  ? 

A  man,  now  in  prison,  who  has  spent  eight 
years  in  a  reformatory,  says  of  these  institutions: 
"Reformatories  for  boys  are  schools  of  degen- 
eracy, vice  and  crime  at  present;  and  the  worst 
boy  outside  will  reach  a  lower  depth  when  sent 
to  one.  No  boy  under  age  should  be  sent  to 
prison  for  a  first  offense  against  property." 
Hundreds  of  others  write  in  the  same  way,  tell- 
ing of  the  things  that  are  happening  to-day  to 
American  boys.  Perhaps  there  is  no  greater 
need  in  our  country  than  the  removal  of  all 
juvenile  cases  from  the  courts  and  the  placing 
of  their  treatment  in  the  hands  of  men  and 
women  qualified  to  deal  with  children  in  a  way 
that  will  l)e  fair  and  just. 

Moral  Disease. — If  the  treatment  of  the 
physically  diseased  were  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  courts  most  of  the  patients  would  die,  be- 
cause it  takes  experienced  physicians  to  bring  the 


BOYISH  PRANKS  99 

diseased  parts  of  the  human  body  back  to  health, 
The  treatment  of  moral  disease  requires  physi- 
cians just  as  experienced  if  order  is  to  be  brought 
into  the  lives  of  boys  and  girls  not  yet  adjusted 
to  their  environment,  and  most  patient,  wise  and 
skilful  handling  is  necessary  to  save  these  erring 
ones  from  things  worse  than  physical  death. 

Educational  Authorities. — The  first  step  to- 
ward a  better  procedure  was  taken  when  chil- 
dren's cases  were  separated  from  those  of  adults 
in  hearings  before  the  courts.  The  next  step 
should  be  the  entire  removal  from  the  courts  of 
the  cases  of  children  under  sixteen  and  the  plac- 
ing of  them  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  educa- 
tional authorities.  Our  educational  system  is  not 
now  equipped  to  do  such  work,  but  the  treat- 
ment of  wayward  children  is  an  educational 
question  and  should  be  under  educational  man- 
agement. Our  educational  system  has  been 
steadily  extending  so  as  to  minister  to  all  needs 
of  children  outside  of  the  home.  The  issuance 
of  work  certificates  to  children  by  school  authori- 
ties is  in  line  with  this  general  movement. 

The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  women  must 
share  with  men  in  judicial  administration  and  in 
planning  the  work  to  be  done  for  the  protection 
and  guidance  of  children.  Already  a  step  has 
been  taken  in  this  direction  in  Chicago  in  the 
appointment  of  a  woman  as  an  assistant  judge 
to  handle  the  cases  of  girls  and  women. 


100  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Gradually  we  are  coming  to  realize  the  wis- 
dom of  preventive  and  educational  treatment  as 
opposed  to  mere  punishment  in  the  cases  of  child 
offenders.  The  new  task  is  more  difBcult  and 
far-reaching' than  was  the  old  one  of  punishment, 
but  no  one  will  deny  its  supreme  value  and 
worth. 

RESULTS  OF  SENDING  BOYS  TO  PRISON WRITTEN  BY 

PRISON   INMATES. 

American,  twenty-one:  "I  had  a  drinking 
stepfather.  At  eighteen  I  had  no  work  and  no 
place  to  sleep  or  eat.  I  broke  into  a  house,  for 
which  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory.  Then  I  was 
sent  to  prison.  I  don't  think  any  man  or  boy 
ought  to  be  sent  to  prison  for  his  first  offense. 
Give  him  a  chance.  Show  him  his  error  and 
help  him  to  lead  a  better  life." 

American,  thirty:  "Prison  is  no  place  to  re- 
form a  man,  for  he  gets  hard-hearted." 

An  American  of  thirty-seven  tells  of  being 
sent  to  prison  for  drunkenness,  his  first  offense, 
at  twenty.  He  says:  "I  think  that  in  sending 
a  youth  to  prison  where  he  mixes  with  old  of- 
fenders he  is  put  in  the  way  of  learning  more 
wrong  in  a  week  than  he  would  in  saloons  in  a 
year." 

An  Englishman  of  thirty-five  tells  of  being  in 
prison  as  a  result  of  drink  and  bad  company.   He 


BOYISH  PRANKS  101 

writes:  "The  worst  thing  that  can  be  done  to  a 
boy  is  to  put  him  in  jail  with  criminals,  to  tell 
him  he  is  bad  and  to  suggest  the  idea  that  he  is 
suspected.  He  thinks  that  he  might  as  well  do 
wrong  as  be  blamed  for  it." 

An  American  of  twenty-three  tells  of  having 
been  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  twenty-three 
months  for  his  first  offense.  He  writes:  "If  the 
police  would  let  a  man  alone  after  he  has  been 
in  trouble  once  instead  of  hounding  him  contin- 
ually he  would  have  some  chance  to  lead  an  hon- 
est life.  I  am  now  in  prison  for  two  years  be- 
cause of  that." 

American,  twenty-eight:  "I  graduated  at  high 
school  and  was  a  stenographer.  I  was  arrested 
at  twenty-three  for  forgery  caused  by  drink,  bad 
companions  and  fast  women.  I  was  sent  to  a 
reformatory,  where  the  influence  was  bad.  The 
police  kept  after  me  when  I  was  released  and 
arrested  me  on  suspicion." 

A  Canadian,  thirty-six  years  of  age  and  well 
educated,  tells  of  having  been  arrested  at  twenty- 
three  for  violation  of  excise  laws  and  of  being 
sent  to  a  reformatory  for  two  and  a  half  years. 
He  says:  "The  influence  was  emphatically  not 
beneficial.  I  have  served  six  terms  in  prison. 
Police  interference,  inability  to  get  work  without 
references  and  many  other  causes  were  difficul- 
ties I  met  when  released.  I  also  suffered  from 
a  lack  of  funds  to  carry  me  over  such  a  period  of 


102  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

time  as  It  took  me  to  find  employment.  These 
were  the  causes  of  putting  me  back  in  prison 
more  than  anything  else.  Ten  dollars  do  not 
last  long  when  you  have  to  buy  clothes  and  other 
necessaries  of  life  after  leaving  prison." 

A  native  of  Holland,  forty-three  years  old,  who 
is  well  educated  and  had  a  good  home  in  his 
youth,  writes :  "I  had  no  work  and  stole  at  twen- 
ty-nine. I  was  sent  to  prison  for  a  year  and 
have  since  served  six  terms.  Time  and  again  I 
have  lost  jobs  through  the  police  telling  my  em- 
ployers I  had  been  convicted  of  crime,  thereby 
returning  me  to  my  former  status  of  idleness 
which  breeds  crime.  Employment  without  per- 
secution would  have  helped  me  to  live  right." 

American,  thirty-four:  "Because  of  poor 
wages  I  stole  at  eighteen.  I  was  sent  to  prison 
for  three  years.  I  tried  to  live  within  the  law 
when  I  got  out,  but  the  police  hounding  me  made 
it  impossible.  It  would  have  helped  me  most 
when  I  got  out  to  have  been  given  sufficient 
money  and  a  suit  of  clothes  not  stamped  with 
prison.  How  can  a  man  reform  when  the  police 
are  more  than  anxious  to  keep  him  down,  when 
they  say  that  once  a  man  has  been  in  prison  he 
can  never  reform,  and  when  they  never  give  him 
a  chance?  Ask  any  man  who  has  served  several 
terms  how  the  police  have  used  him  on  his  dis- 
charge." 

American,    twenty-six:     "I    had    a    'drinking 


BOYISH  PRANKS  103 

father  who  died  when  I  was  four  years  old.  I 
attended  school  regularly.  My  heart  and  soul 
were  all  in  music.  I  was  in  an  orphan  asylum 
for  a  time.  I  was  arrested  though  innocent,  and 
I  could  not  face  my  people  after  that.  I  was 
sent  to  prison  for  two  years  and  six  months.  I 
have  served  four  terms.  When  released  I  had 
poor  health,  no  money,  a  bad  appearance  and  no 
work.  Kind  treatment  and  a  chance  were  what 
I  needed.  If  a  man  could  be  given  a  double  set 
of  clothes,  one  for  working  and  the  other  for 
dress,  more  money,  good  work,  and  be  trusted, 
he  would  not  steal  again." 

An  Englishman,  thirty  years  old,  first  arrested 
at  twenty-six  for  gambling,  says :  "I  think  a 
heart-to-heart  talk  and  suspended  sentence 
would  have  done  more  to  make  a  better  man  of 
me  than  all  the  imprisonment  they  can  ever  give 
me. 

American,  thirty-two:  "A  good  wife  would 
have  helped  me  most.  Fathers  should  teach 
boys  not  to  marry  on  short  courtship  and  to 
study  their  future  wives  very  well,  as  women 
cause  lots  of  men  and  boys  to  commit  crimes." 

An  educated  American  of  forty-one  who  is  in 
prison  for  murder  says :  "A  vigorous  law  against 
home-wreckers,  protecting  the  purity  of  wives, 
would  obviate  one  cause  of  homicides  and  de- 
crease their  number  thirty-five  per  cent.  The 
remedy  lies  in  prevention  and  must  be  sought  in 


104  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

protected  womanhood  and  the  sanctity  of  mar- 
riage." 

American,  forty-one :  "I  was  innocent  of  the 
offense  I  was  arrested  for,  yet  I  was  held  and 
punished  for  what  I  did  not  do.  It  drove  me  to 
despair.  The  law  made  me  what  I  am,  and  is  one 
of  the  main  causes  of  youths  pursuing  a  career 
of  crime." 

American,  thirty-nine:  "I  was  sent  to  prison 
for  twenty  years  for  a  robbery  of  which  I  am 
innocent." 

American,  forty-eight:  *'I  committed  larceny 
at  forty-seven.  In  the  eyes  of  God  there  is  no 
difference  between  the  little  thief  and  the  big 
thief,  the  so-called  business  man  and  the  poli- 
tician, even  if  they  have  laws  enacted  to  protect 
them  in  their  crooked  work.  Their  natures  are 
the  same,   only  their  thoughts  differ." 

Russian,  twenty-six:  "I  was  friendless  and 
homeless,  without  funds  and  out  of  work.  I 
stole  at  twenty-two  and  am  sentenced  to  ten 
years  in  prison.  I  would  suggest  how  the  Ameri- 
can nation  could  solve  the  question  of  how  to 
keep  men  away  from  prison.  The  first  thing  a 
man  friendless  and  homeless  needs  is  a  home 
where  he  can  stay  a  little  while  when  he  is  re- 
leased from  prison.  Imagine  a  man  five  or  ten 
years  in  prison  turned  out  with  only  ten  dollars! 
In  a  few  days  they  usually  come  back  because 
they  are  friendless  and  homeless." 


BOYISH  PRANKS  105 

American,  twenty-seven:  "I  needed  most  to 
have  a  home  and  not  be  permitted  to  run  around 
from  place  to  place.  When  my  father  died  my 
brother  broke  up  the  home  and  I  was  left  to 
hustle  for  myself  with  no  one  to  say  yes  or  no 
or  to  help  me." 


CHAPTER   VIII 

SCHOOLS  AND  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

n^HE  last  century  witnessed  the  building  of 
-■•  the  greatest  public  school  system  in  the 
world.  Over  seventeen  million  children  each 
year  come  under  its  authority  for  from  five  to 
six  hours  a  day,  and  every  child  on  an  average 
does  this  for  at  least  eight  years  of  his  life.  Our 
schools  have  the  responsibility  for  nine-tenths 
of  our  children  under  fourteen,  and  for  one-tenth 
after  that.  Freedom  of  choice  no  longer  rests 
with  parents.  They  must  accept  the  schools 
and  use  them,  for  in  most  states  compulsory  ed- 
ucation laws  make  it  obligatory  for  all  children 
to  attend  school.  Statistics  show  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  children  leave  school  in  the  ele- 
mentary grades.  These  children  are  unfitted  for 
self-support  by  work  either  physical  or  mental — ' 
they  must  necessarily  go  to  swell  the  ranks  of 
unskilled  labor,  always  a  precarious  means  of 
livelihood. 

Juvenile  Courts. — The  children  who  come  into 
juvenile  courts  are  these  same  school  children, 
for  the  jurisdiction  of  these  courts  extends  only 
to  those  under  sixteen.     No  study  of  wayward 

106 


SCHOOLS  AND  THE  CHILD         107 

children  would  be  complete  that  did  not  take  into 
account  the  bearing  on  this  problem  of  the  edu- 
cational system  and  its  administration,  for  next 
to  the  home  the  school  carries  the  greatest  re- 
sponsibility in  the  shaping  of  children's  habits 
and  characters. 

The  conclusions  deduced  from  the  study  of 
the  ten  thousand  children  under  observation  in 
juvenile  court,  as  vv^ell  as  statements  made  by 
prison  inmates  concerning  their  early  life,  point 
the  need  for  certain  improvements  in  the  present 
system  of  education  which,  when  made,  will  go 
far  toward  preventing  the  existence  of  wayward 
children  and  also  toward  leading  those  who  are 
wayward  to  the  straight  path. 

Natural  Activities. — One  cause  which  has  con- 
tributed to  juvenile  delinquency  is  the  repres- 
sion of  children's  natural  activities  and  desires 
which  school  requirements  demand.  Children 
six  years  old  are  too  young  to  suffer  the  con- 
finement of  school.  At  least  two  years  could  be 
saved  were  school  work  so  arranged  as  to  con- 
form to  the  natural  interests  of  children.  Free- 
dom to  move  about,  to  run,  to  have  fresh  air, 
to  be  a  child,  to  develop  individual  initiative  are 
what  every  child  should  have  during  the  first 
eight  or  ten  years  of  life.  Education  that  inter- 
feres with  these  primary  necessities  of  child  life 
is  injurious.  For  one  thing,  it  gives  the  child  a 
dislike  for  school  which  often  is  never  overcome. 


io8  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

The  most  elementary  improvement  would  in- 
volve the  better  adaptation  of  courses  of  study 
to  the  age  and  natural  interests  of  children.  This 
would  increase  the  attractiveness  of  schools  and 
would  hold  the  children  in  school  for  a  longer 
time. 

Incalculable  is  the  suffering  inflicted  on  chil- 
dren by  our  schools.  Seats  of  improper  height 
impeding  circulation,  poor  ventilation,  rules 
against  moving  and  speaking — all  these  are  real 
causes  of  restiveness  and  disturbance  among 
children.  It  is  well  known  by  those  who  have 
studied  the  physical  life  of  the  child  that  it  is 
impossible  for  him  to  keep  still.  This  being  so, 
activity  is  a  proved  necessity  of  his  life.  In  re- 
quiring an  "order"  which  in  the  grown-up's  in- 
terpretation means  inactivity,  we  are  requiring 
an  impossibility.  There  are  some  teachers  who 
now  recognize  this  and  who  arrange  their  work 
accordingly. 

In  the  Worcester  Normal  School  there  is  a 
principal  with  a  quiet,  gentle  voice  who  yet  has 
genuine  enthusiasm  for  her  work.  For  thirty- 
five  years  she  has  devoted  her  life  to  teaching 
children  and  training  teachers.  "I  am  so  glad," 
she  says,  "as  I  had  to  earn  my  living,  that  I 
could  do  it  in  a  way  I  love  so  well." 

One  Teacher's  Method. — I  shall  not  soon  for- 
get the  sight  of  tliis  teacher  at  her  work.  The 
children   were   standing  in   a   circle   about   her. 


SCHOOLS  AND  THE  CHILD        109 

She  had  no  text-book  of  any  kind  but,  using 
the  blackboard,  she  led  the  boys  and  girls  of 
the  third  grade  through  their  number  work  while 
a  student  teacher  looked  on.  So  eager  and  inter- 
ested were  the  children  that  their  whole  bodies 
were  in  motion  as  they  raised  their  hands  to 
show  their  readiness  to  reply.  Their  ability  to 
add,  subtract  and  divide  rapidly  was  remarkable. 

After  their  lesson  the  class  was  taken  into 
the  long  hall  of  the  large  school  building.  "Now 
run  the  length  of  the  hall  and  back,  and  see 
who  can  run  the  most  quietly,"  the  teacher  said. 
Off  they  started,  happy  and  gay,  making  almost 
no  noise.  They  came  back  to  the  schoolroom 
with  every  muscle  alive,  with  minds  fresh  and 
active  for  the  next  lesson.  The  lesson  in  read- 
ing was  given  from  a  book  they  had  never  seen, 
the  phonetic  m.ethod  being  used.  Each  one  was 
asked  to  read  a  paragraph,  taking  a  minute  to 
look  it  over  before  reading  aloud.  The  expres- 
sion and  accuracy  with  which  these  children  read 
— not  one  of  them  was  over  ten  years  old — could 
not  be  excelled  by  students  in  schools  of  elocu- 
tion. 

After  the  reading  lesson  was  over  the  chil- 
dren were  let  out  for  a  short  recess  on  their 
playground,  where  swings,  sand-boxes  and  the 
like  were  provided  for  them.  The  children  had 
been  so  inspired  with  thoughtfulness  for  oth- 
ers that  no  one  used  a  swing  or  a  sand-box  long, 


110  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

but  passed  on  to  something  else  so  as  to  give 
others  an  opportunity. 

At  this  school  in  Worcester  initiative  and  gov- 
ernment are  left  to  the  children.  The  teacher  is 
there  to  teach,  not  to  discipline.  So  strongly 
has  she  made  this  evident  to  the  children  that 
perfect  order  exists  in  the  schoolroom  without 
apparent  effort  on  her  part.  The  need  for  activ- 
ity on  the  part  of  the  children  and  their  inabil- 
ity to  keep  their  minds  long  on  one  subject  have 
been  recognized  and  the  school  in  consequence 
is  a  delight  to  all  the  children  and  a  wonder  to 
their  parents.  The  teacher  says :  "From  thirty- 
five  years  of  teaching  combined  with  deepest 
love  for  the  children  and  study  of  them  I  have 
evolved  the  system  I  use."  More  valuable  than 
reading  and  arithmetic  are  the  lessons  in  self- 
control,  self-government  and  consideration  for 
others  which  these  children  are  learning  and  us- 
ing daily. 

Why  Children  Leave  School. — The  fact  that 
nine-tenths  of  our  children  leave  school  in  the 
elementary  grades  is  a  matter  for  serious 
thought,  as  well  as  investigation  of  the  changes 
that  may  be  required  to  hold  the  children  longer. 
The  exclusion  of  manual  work  in  the  household 
and  mechanical  arts  from  the  curricula  of  the 
school  system  is  a  serious  handicap  in  dealing 
with  the  many  children  who  can  only  be  inter- 
ested in  study  by  seeing  its  application  to  prac- 


SCHOOLS  AND  THE  CHILD        111 

tical  living.  Boys  whom  it  was  impossible  to  in- 
terest in  school  work  and  who  made  no  progress 
in  it  have  been  known  to  leave  school,  only  to 
learn  after  a  year  or  two  of  work  that  they 
can  not  advance  far  in  any  business  without  ed- 
ucation. Voluntarily  have  these  boys  returned 
to  school,  seeing  now  the  application  to  life  of 
their  school  work. 

The  abstract  nature  of  school  work,  its  appar- 
ently infinite  distance  from  any  present  interest 
of  the  child,  has  been  one  of  the  weak  places  in 
our  educational  system.  It  should  not  be  neces- 
sary for  children  to  be  wayward  or  delinquent 
in  order  to  be  given  the  advantages  of  the  man- 
ual work  which  has  been  found  so  beneficial  in 
special  schools.  If  work  with  the  hands  will  cure 
delinquency  why  should  it  not  be  made  a  part 
of  the  regular  school  program  and  so  help  to 
prevent  it? 

Trade  Schools. — There  is  a  wide  demand  for 
the  establishment  of  trade  schools,  vocational 
and  agricultural  schools  and  for  the  introduc- 
tion of  manual  training  into  every  graded  school. 
The  provision  of  opportunity  for  such  training, 
to  serve  the  needs  of  those  not  interested  in  aca- 
demic education;  will  have  a  great  influence  in 
the  prevention  of  crime  among  children  and 
adults.  Something  less  than  a  third  of  the  in- 
mates of  penitentiaries  ever  learned  a  trade.  The 
child  who  is  trained  to  do  something  well  has 


112  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

a  strong  safeguard  against  poverty,  and  poverty 
is  one  of  the  contributing  factors  causing  crime. 
The  universal  introduction  of  this  form  of  edu- 
cation into  our  pubhc  school  system  would  ac- 
complish two  things.  In  the  first  place,  children 
would  then  like  school  and  so  truancy  would  de- 
crease. In  the  second  place,  children  year  by 
year  would  be  so  trained  that  on  leaving  school 
their  services  would  be  valuable,  and  they  could 
command  a  higher  wage  than  if  they  had  pur- 
sued a  purely  academic  course  of  study.  In  this 
efficient  age  if  the  schools  are  to  hold  the  chil- 
dren they  must  afford  opportunity  for  learning 
subjects  of  direct  bread-winning  value. 

The  Teacher  and  Wayward  Children. — The 
problem  of  the  child  who  does  not  keep  step  in 
the  great  educational  system  devised  for  all 
children  has  met  with  consideration  and  treat- 
ment of  various  kinds  from  those  who  control 
the  schools.  Almost  absolute  authority  is  vested 
in  the  teachers.  Discipline  may  include  cor- 
poral punishment,  suspension,  expulsion,  arrest 
and  charges  in  court  against  the  child.  The  thor- 
oughly efficient  teacher  maintains  discipline 
without  resorting  to  such  measures.  The  large 
proportion  of  teachers,  however,  are  inexperi- 
enced and  new  to  their  work  and  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  among  these  there  may  be 
errors  of  judgment  on  the  teacher's  side.  In 
such  instances  it  should  be  possible  for  the  child 


SCHOOLS  AND  THE  CHILD        113 

to  make  his  side  of  the  case  known.  The  very 
children  whom  one  teacher  declares  completely 
unmanageable  another  teacher  with  a  superior 
knowledge  of  child  nature  will  find  no  difficulty 
whatever  in  their  management.  In  normal 
schools  in  the  training  of  teachers  there  is  great 
need  for  emphasis  on  the  importance  of  a  sym- 
pathetic attitude  toward  the  children.  The 
young  pupil  teacher  should  be  made  to  realize 
the  need  for  great  patience  and  sympathy  with 
children,  besides  learning  methods  of  teaching 
and  of  maintaining  order. 

Public  School-Teachers. — A  very  valuable 
study  of  the  personnel  and  qualifications  of  the 
public  school-teachers  of  the  United  States  has 
been  made  by  Doctor  Lotus  D.  Coffman,  Pro- 
fessor of  Education  in  the  University  of  Illinois. 
This  study  brings  out  facts  which  are  significant 
in  considering  with  whom  the  educational  work 
of  the  country  rests  and  how  it  may  affect  the 
children.  Doctor  Coffman  says:  "One-third  of 
the  men  who  are  teaching  are  under  twenty-four 
years  of  age ;  half  of  the  women  teachers  are 
under  twenty-four;  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  teaching 
population  have  had  four  or  less  years'  experi- 
ence ;  twenty-five  per  cent,  have  had  only  one 
year's  experience.  At  least  half  the  teachers  of 
this  country  are  little  more  than  girls  and  boys. 
Information  of  reliable  character  leads  me  to  con- 
clude that  in  most  cases  the  professional  motive, 


114  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

a  desire  to  consecrate  their  lives  to  service 
through  teaching,  comes  when  some  great  per- 
sonality has  touched  their  lives  and  left  its  indel- 
ible impress  upon  them.  The  situation  is  ren- 
dered more  complex  when  we  consider  the  char- 
acter and  amount  of  training  the  novices  have  re- 
ceived. Three-fifths  of  the  men  and  two-fifths 
of  the  women  in  rural  schools  have  had  less 
than  a  high-school  education;  one-half  of  the 
men  and  one-third  of  the  women  in  towns,  one- 
fifth  of  the  men  and  one-sixth  of  the  women  in 
cities,  have  had  less  than  a  high-school  educa- 
tion. The  extreme  instability  of  the  teaching 
population  is  shown  in  the  failure  of  recruits  to 
remain  in  teaching.  Nearly  one^quarter  of  the 
entire  teaching  force  leaves  it  annually.  More 
than  three-fourths  of  all  American  teachers  are 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  small  farmers  and 
small  tradesmen,  the  annual  income  of  whose 
parents  average  less  than  eight  hundred  dollars." 
The  fact  that  at  least  half  of  the  teachers  of 
this  country  are  little  more  than  boys  and  girls 
themselves  has  a  very  significant  bearing  on 
their  methods  of  dealing  with  children.  It  is  an 
attribute  of  youth  to  have  little  patience.  The 
faults  which  an  older  person  would  overlook 
or  quietly  correct  receive  much  harsher  treat- 
ment from  a  youth.  There  has  been  nothing  in 
the  preparation  of  most  teachers  to  force  home 
in  their  minds  what  it  means  to  a  child  to  be 


SCHOOLS  AND  THE  CHILD        115 

branded  as  wayward  or  unmanageable.  Life  has 
not  yet  taught  these  young  teachers  self-control 
and  patience.  If  teachers  really  once  understood 
the  importance  of  sympathy  and  patience  with 
children  many  would  adopt  a  new  attitude  to- 
ward their  work.  False  ideas  of  economy  have 
made  us  give  too  many  children  to  a  single 
teacher.  It  is  impossible  to  get  at  the  heart  of 
a  pupil  and  establish  with  him  the  personal  rela- 
tionship so  essential  for  real  education  when  a 
teacher  must  be  responsible  for  from  forty  to 
sixty  children. 

A  teacher  to  do  good  work  must  possess  poise 
and  self-control  and  must  be  fresh  in  mind  and 
body.  This  is  not  possible  when  too  much  work 
is  required.  A  tired,  overworked  teacher  affects 
the  entire  atmosphere  of  the  school.  Unjust 
punishments  and  harsh  words  are  the  natural 
result,  and  this  has  a  most  unfavorable  effect 
on  the  children. 

A  young  teacher  who  was  discouraged  with 
the  care  of  two  very  troublesome  boys  went  to 
the  principal  of  her  school  and  said:  "I  want 
you  to  take  those  two  boys  out  of  my  class.  I 
can't  do  anything  with  them.  They  are  dirty, 
ragged  and  utterly  bad."  The  principal,  a  wom- 
an of  long  experience  both  as  teacher  and  moth- 
er, replied:  "Certainly  I  will  take  the  boys  out 
of  your  class.  If  you  feel  as  you  say,  of  course 
you  can't  do  well  for  them,  but  there  is  a  great 


116  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

deal  of  good  under  those  rags."  The  young 
teacher's  heart  was  touched  by  the  older  wom- 
an's words,  and  she  answered:  "Let  me  try  a 
little  longer."  Back  she  went  to  discover  the 
good  in  those  boys.  That  she  found  it  was 
shown  two  weeks  later  when  she  said  to  the 
principal :  "You  were  right.  'There  is  a  great 
deal  of  good  under  those  rags.'  I  want  to  keep 
them."  Would  that  there  might  be  a  principal 
like  that  one  in  every  school  to  help  the  younger 
teachers  to  discover  the  good!  It  is  always 
there,  though  it  may  be  well  concealed. 

Married  Women  as  Teachers. — There  has 
been  opposition  to  the  employment  of  married 
women  as  teachers.  The  fact  that  one-fourth 
of  our  entire  teaching  force,  however,  leaves  the 
work  each  year  is  a  strong  reason  for  enlisting 
a  more  permanent  element.  This  could  probably 
be  done  were  the  salaries  of  teachers  commen- 
surate with  the  importance  of  the  work  commit- 
ted to  them.  There  is  an  art  in  teaching  which 
does  not  come  without  experience  and  without 
a  real  love  for  teaching  and  for  children.  Those 
who  regard  the  profession  merely  as  a  means  of 
livelihood,  disliking  the  work  and  leaving  it  as 
soon  as  possible,  should  choose  some  other  pro- 
fession where  the  formation  of  human  charac- 
ter is  not  involved.  Married  women  whose  home 
cares  permit  it  should  be  encouraged  to  enlist  in 
the  ranks  of  teachers.    Their  broader  and  longer 


SCHOOLS  AND  THE  CHILD        117 

experience  of  life  would  have  a  helpful  influence 
on  young  teachers  just  entering  the  work.  The 
instance  already  cited  where  a  mother-teacher 
helped  a  younger  woman  to  be  more  patient  and 
sympathetic  shows  clearly  the  value  of  a  com- 
bination of  married  women  with  young  teachers. 
Both  Men  and  Women. — One  of  the  most 
needed  changes  in  the  educational  system  is  that 
of  allowing  the  planning,  direction  and  manage- 
ment of  the  system  to  rest  equally  on  both  wom- 
en and  men.  No  question  concerning  children 
can  wisely  be  met  unless  the  point  of  view  of 
both  mother  and  father  is  brought  to  bear  on  it. 
Educational  boards  are  usually  made  up  of  men 
whose  lives  are  so  crowded  with  business  inter- 
ests that  they  can  give  little  study  or  time  to 
the  vital  work  entrusted  to  them.  President 
G.  Stanley  Hall  deplores  the  fact  that  women 
teachers  exceed  men  in  numbers,  but  in  estimat- 
ing their  usefulness  it  should  be  remembered 
that  most  of  them  are  but  cogs  in  a  great  ma- 
chine built  by  business  men  who  are  neither 
teachers  nor  specialists  in  child  nurture,  and  who 
as  fathers  leave  to  their  wives  most  of  the  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  training  and  education  of 
their  own  children.  Little  freedom  for  individ- 
uality and  initiative  is  given  to  the  teachers. 
iWith  few  exceptions  women  have  had  no  oppor- 
tunity for  having  any  voice  or  responsibility  in 
the  making  of  the  system  under  which  the  chil- 


lis  THE  .WAYWARD  CHILD 

dren  of  the  United  States  are  being  educated. 
They  have  had  no  opportunity  to  put  into  this 
system  the  life-giving  principles  and  methods 
which  their  greater  experience  with  children  has 
taught  them.  Conditions  would  not  be  im- 
proved, however,  were  our  educational  system 
put  entirely  under  the  control  of  women.  Men 
and  women  both  must  think  and  plan  and  work 
together  on  equal  ground  to  bring  the  schools 
into  such  an  adjustment  with  child  life  as  will 
make  each  child  love  his  work  and  be  stimulated 
and  inspired  to  develop  individuality  and  initia- 
tive. 

Responsibility  of  the  School. — The  responsi- 
bility of  the  school  has  increased  greatly  since 
the  days  when  its  only  function  was  to  teach  the 
three  R's.  With  the  development  of  the  great- 
est educational  system  in  the  world  greatly  in- 
increased  responsibilities  have  devolved  on  the 
schools.  Practically  all  children  under  fourteen 
are  now  under  their  jurisdiction  and  guidance. 
More  and  more,  as  the  children  are  better  under- 
stood, it  is  realized  that  education  relates  to  the 
whole  child.  Health  and  hygiene  have  already 
been  incorporated  as  an  important  responsibility 
of  the  school  in  the  most  advanced  educational 
centers.  How  the  child  may  preserve  and  develop 
a  healthy  body  is  recognized  as  a  matter  of  edu- 
cation and  is  receiving  greater  attention  as  its 
importance  is  more  fully  proved. 


SCHOOLS  AND  THE  CHILD        119 

It  is  no  longer  thought  necessary  that  the 
misdemeanors  and  faults  of  children  should  nec- 
essarily be  regarded  as  evidence  of  incorrigibil- 
ity and  delinquency.  No  one  can  be  associated 
with  large  groups  of  children  without  learning 
that  they  require  three  kinds  of  education,  that 
which  will  develop  the  body,  that  which  will 
develop  the  mind  and  that  which  will  develop 
the  spirit  as  the  guiding  power  of  body  and 
mind.  Every  phase  of  child  development  be- 
longs in  the  sphere  of  education,  and  the  full 
significance  of  this  truth  we  can  not  learn  too 
soon. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  the  educa- 
tional system  is  better  able  to  meet  the  needs 
of  children  than  the  correctional  or  penal  sys- 
tems. The  latter  are  not  organized  on  an  edu- 
cational basis  nor  with  regard  to  pedagogy  or 
psychology. 

When  the  juvenile  court  system  was  adopted 
a  distinctly  new  view  of  children's  offenses  had 
spread  abroad.  Many  adjustments  have  been 
made  to  meet  this  new  view  of  wayward  chil- 
dren. Many  more  will  be  made.  One  of  the 
most  necessary  is  the  transference  of  the  care 
of  wayward  children  to  the  educational  system. 

Educators  may  well  say:  "We  are  able  to 
guide  and  discipline  all  the  children.  We  will 
equip  ourselves  to  do  it.  We  will  not  be  daunted 
by  those  who  are  problems  and  difficult  because 


120  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

we  know  that  they  are  children  requiring  edu- 
cation to  overcome  their  waywardness.  We  are 
better  equipped  to  meet  their  needs  than  any 
other  agency  because  we  know  them,  because 
they  are  with  us,  and  we  have  had  the  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  and  study  them,  because  the 
study  of  child  development  is  our  work."  To 
bring  children  into  courts  for  offenses  which  can 
be  dealt  with  by  the  school  should  become  less 
and  less  frequent,  just  in  so  far  as  the  child's  wel- 
fare is  considered  first  rather  than  the  offense 
of  which  he  has  been  guilty. 


CHAPTER    IX 


TRUANCY 


TRUANCY  Is  a  matter  of  far  greater  impor- 
tance to  the  community  than  has  ever  been 
realized.  The  truant  is  a  child  whose  care  needs 
careful  study  and  the  wisest  treatment  to  guide 
him  safely  over  a  critical  period  in  his  life.  It 
is  impossible  to  deal  with  this  subject  in  a  whole- 
sale manner,  for  each  case  is  an  individual  prob- 
lem and  requires  individual  treatment.  Thou- 
sands of  children  who  are  truants  are  brought 
into  juvenile  courts  each  year.  Observation  and 
study  will  bring  to  light  some  general  reasons, 
however,  why  many  of  them  have  become  tru- 
ants. 

Mothers  Working  Outside. — One  of  the 
causes  making  many  truants  is  the  necessity  in 
some  homes  for  both  the  father  and  mother  to 
be  the  breadwinners  of  the  family.  Children 
whose  parents  both  leave  home  before  seven 
o'clock  in  the  morning  have  no  one  to  send  them 
to  school,  and  no  one  to  direct  them  during  the 
day.  They  are  too  young  to  be  depended  on  to 
do  what  they  should.    The  result  is  very  natural, 

121 


122  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

for  most  children  left  to  themselves  prefer  play 
to  school.  It  seems  unjust  to  arrest  and  fine  or 
imprison  parents  because  their  children  fail  to  go 
to  school,  when  these  parents  are  already  heavily 
handicapped  by  the  necessity  of  working  outside 
to  support  their  children.  Cases  of  this  kind  are 
so  large  in  number  that  it  would  seem  more  prac- 
tical and  sensible  to  provide  a  regular  visitor 
who  would  call  each  day  at  the  proper  time  and 
take  the  children  to  school.  This  would  be  the 
best  kind  of  work  for  a  truant  ofificer. 

Schools  Do  Not  Interest  Children. — Another 
cause  of  truancy  rests  w^ith  the  school.  The  tru- 
ant is  often  a  perfectly  normal  child  who  loves 
freedom  and  outdoor  life  better  than  long  hours 
in  a  close  room  where  lessons  are  taught  which, 
so  far  as  he  can  see,  are  not  related  to  his  own 
age  and  its  natural  interests.  In  studying  the 
causes  of  truancy  one  must  look  at  both  sides 
of  the  question.  There  ma}-  be  good  reasons 
why  an  active  child  does  not  find  the  school  to 
his  liking.  The  fault  may  lie  not  in  the  child,  but 
in  the  natural  conditions  of  normal  childhood. 
The  methods  in  use  in  schools  are  not  always 
adapted  to  children,  but  are  employed  without 
sufficient  consideration  of  that  vital  need  in  edu- 
cation. 

If  the  school  system  is  to  be  efficient  it  must 
be  animated  by  sympathy  with  and  understand- 
ing of  child  nature.     Lessons  must  be  adapted 


TRUANCY  123 

to  the  age  and  interests  of  the  child.  A  too  lib- 
eral use  of  force  and  the  police  system  has  driven 
from  school  many  children  who  could  have  been 
won  to  love  it  w^ere  the  school  all  it  should  be. 

Poverty  and  Truancy. — Another  cause  of  tru- 
ancy is  poverty  and  the  consequent  lack  of  suit- 
able clothing  for  the  children.  Pride  often  pre- 
vents parents  and  children  from  stating  this  rea- 
son. Among  city  children  this  will  always  be 
found  to  be  a  very  common  cause  of  truancy. 
It  is  true  that  in  a  small  proportion  of  cases  tru- 
ancy is  caused  by  the  indifference  of  ignorant 
parents  about  sending  their  children  to  school. 
For  such  parents  a  fine  may  be  justified.  For  all 
others  there  should  be  a  better  way  of  meeting 
the  condition.  Most  parents  are  eager  to  give 
their  children  educational  advantages,  even  at 
great  personal  sacrifice. 

The  time  must  come,  too,  when  schools  will 
be  so  equipped  to  meet  the  natural  interests  of 
children  that  they  will  look  forward  to  going 
to  school.  When  that  time  comes  wayward  chil- 
dren will  decrease  in  number  and  truancy  will 
become  so  infrequent  that  compulsory  education 
laws  will  be  unnecessary.  When  our  school  sys- 
tem becomes  truly  efficient  it  will  be  regarded 
as  the  normal  duty  of  the  school  to  deal  with 
wayward  children  patiently  and  with  loving  in- 
terest until  their  faults  are  overcome.  Way- 
wardness is  the  signal  of  danger  to  a  human  life 


124  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

and  to  society,  and  punishment  will  not  elim- 
inate it.  Causes  must  be  learned,  the  coopera- 
tion of  parents  enlisted,  the  child's  own  interest 
aroused — and  the  wisdom  of  all  must  be  cen- 
tered on  changing  the  child's  view-point,  which 
caused  his  wrong  acts.  All  this  can  be  done 
without  publicity  and  without  calling  in  the  serv- 
ices of  the  police  or  the  courts.  It  is  a  matter 
of  right  education  and  school  authorities  should 
be  better  able  to  decide  than  any  other,  agency 
how  best  to  straighten  out  the  faults. 

Truant  Officers. — An  expensive  system  of  tru- 
ant officers  has  been  added  to  our  educational 
equipment.  To  these  truant  officers  are  en- 
trusted the  duties  of  rounding  up  the  children, 
of  forcing  them  to  go  to  school,  of  seeing  that 
their  parents  are  fined  or  imprisoned  if  they  do 
not,  and  in  some  places  of  establishing  truant 
schools  for  the  children  wdio  do  not  fit  into  the 
regular  system.  It  seems  time  to  inquire  where- 
in the  schools  are  at  fault  when  it  is  necessary 
to  establish  such  an  expensive  system  for  forcing 
children  to  go  to  them.  The  best  development 
of  a  child  can  never  be  secured  through  force. 
Child  nature  evidently  rebels  at  the  system,  and 
for  this  there  must  be  some  good  reason  which 
should  be  considered  and  remedied.  A  friendly 
sympathetic  influence  over  each  child  which  will 
stimulate  in  him  the  desire  to  go  to  school  must 


TRUANCY  125 

take  the  place  of  the  present  system  of  punish- 
ment for  not  going. 

Dealing  with  Truants. — An  experience  of  sev- 
eral years  with  the  most  troublesome  children  in 
a  number  of  public  schools  has  brought  to  light 
some  ways  of  dealing  with  them.  Children  who 
play  truant  can  be  made  to  become  lovers  of 
school  by  the  faithful,  friendly  help  of  visitors 
who  can  inspire  them  and  give  them  a  desire  to 
do  right.  Or  these  children  can  often  be  helped 
simply  by  transference  to  another  school  where 
the  teacher  understands  how  to  get  at  the  cause 
of  their  trouble.  There  are  teachers  who  can 
take  any  child,  however  troublesome  or  way- 
ward, and  bring  out  in  him  all  that  .is  good  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  faults  which  other  teachers  have 
found  unendurable. 

An  active  boy  of  twelve,  for  many  days  a  tru- 
ant, was  brought  into  juvenile  court  by  a  truant 
officer  with  the  plea  that  he  be  sent  to  a  reform 
school.  Instead  he  was  given  another  chance 
with  a  different  teacher  in  a  different  school. 
*'Why  is  it,  John,  that  you  stay  away  from 
school?"  his  new  teacher  asked.  The  boy  an- 
swered: "Oh,  after  I  stay  in  school  a  little  while 
I  can't  breathe — I  must  get  out  in  the  fresh  air." 
So  the  cause  was  just  the  boy's  natural  activity, 
which  made  him  rebel  against  the  close  atmos- 
phere of  the  school  with  its  uncomfortable  seats 


126  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

and  its  rules  requiring  quiet.  The  new  teacher 
saw  the  way  to  win  the  boy.  She  said  to  him: 
"John,  if  you  will  come  to  me  when  you  feel 
that  you  must  go  out,  I  will  let  you  run  around 
the  square,  and  then  you  can  come  back."  Com- 
mon sense  and  insight  into  the  needs  of  an  un- 
usually active  boy  on  the  part  of  that  teacher 
saved  the  boy  from  the  reform  school.  There 
are  hundreds  of  children  less  fortunate  who  nev- 
er have  a  teacher  able  to  see  into  a  child's  heart, 
and  so  able  to  deal  wisely  with  him. 

Faults  Every  Teacher  Meets. — Truancy,  theft 
and  untruthfulness  are  faults  every  teacher  must 
meet,  and  if  she  is  efficient  she  should  be  able 
to  deal  with  them  and  correct  them  without  re- 
sorting to  outside  sources  of  help  such  as  truant 
schools  or  courts.  The  school  acknowledges  its 
own  weakness  when  it  is  unable  to  treat  faults 
like  these,  which  are  to  be  expected,  and  should 
be  treated  judiciously  and  sympathetically.  To 
have  a  school  child  arrested  and  dragged  into 
court,  to  have  him  branded  with  the  stigma  of 
arrest  and  prosecution,  should  never  be  a  part  of 
the  procedure  of  any  school.  Whatever  the  mis- 
demeanors of  children  may  be  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  after  all  they  are  children.  The  duty 
of  the  teacher  is  to  produce  form  out  of  chaos. 
There  will  be  rough  places  on  the  road,  and  they 
are  unavoidable.  Laying  the  foundations  of 
character  can  not  be  separated  from  the  formal 


TRUANCY  127, 

lessons  out  of  books  while  the  pupil  is  travers- 
ing the  formative  years  of  life.  Hand  in  hand 
the  two  go;  and  in  selecting  teachers  their  abil- 
ity to  build  character  strong  and  true  should  be 
looked  into  as  well  as  their  mental  acquirements. 
There  are  no  hopeless  children  for  the  teacher 
possessing  such  a  combination  of  qualifications, 
and  there  are  many  such  teachers  doing  noble 
work.  Branding  a  child  as  a  truant  and  commit- 
ting him  to  a  truant  school  have  often  been  a 
child's  first  approaches  to  a  criminal  career. 
Fully  half  the  children  in  juvenile  courts  are  tru- 
ants. 

Helpers  Needed. — The  schools  to-day  need  a 
corps  of  consecrated  specialists  in  child  nurture 
to  whom  may  be  given  the  names  of  all  children 
who  seem  troublesome  and  in  need  of  help,  and 
who  in  this  way  may  be  given  friendly  help  and 
guidance  quietly  and  without  publicity.  It  is  the 
first  step  that  counts.  In  our  schools  to-day  are 
the  boys  and  girls  who  in  a  few  years  may  be 
standing  in  criminal  courts  or  serving  out  prison 
sentences.  It  is  when  they  make  the  first  wrong 
step  that  they  can  be  helped,  and  it  is  at  this 
point  that  no  adequate  help  is  provided  for  them. 
Teachers,  with  their  heavy  work,  do  not  have 
the  opportunity  to  give  to  them  as  much  per- 
sonal attention  as  some  of  these  children  need, 
yet  they  know  and  see  as  can  no  one  else  the 
tendencies  that  result  so  surely  in  crime. 


128  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Preventing  Crime. — The  juvenile  court  and 
the  Probation  Association  in  one  city  have  given 
special  attention  to  this  comprehensive  and  im- 
portant method  of  preventing  crime.  The  prin- 
cipals of  schools  and  the  Compulsory  Educa- 
tion Department  are  asked  to  give  the  names 
of  children  needing  better  moral  guidance.  Even 
the  child  does  not  know  why  the  friendly  woman 
comes  to  see  him,  but  she  is  one  whose  person- 
ality wins  respect  and  regard,  and  once  she  has 
established  friendly  relations  with  the  child  the 
opportunity  for  inspiration  and  help  is  made  pos- 
sible. There  are  many  societies  for  the  help  of 
poor  children ;  there  are  unfortunately  few  as 
yet  for  the  more  important  office  of  helping 
children  who  stand  at  the  parting  of  the  ways, 
where  wise  direction  may  change  their  entire 
course  of  life. 

To  those  interested  in  the  decrease  of  crime 
the  school  offers  an  inexhaustible  field  for  serv- 
ice in  preventive  work.  When  it  assumes  fully 
its  rightful  sphere  in  child  life,  when  it  recog- 
nizes that  misdemeanors  of  children  are  not 
crimes,  as  they  might  be  if  committed  by  an 
adult,  when  it  assumes  the  responsibility  for 
such  treatment  as  will  eliminate  the  desire  to 
commit  misdemeanors,  then  will  our  educational 
system  be  an  efficient,  vital  factor  in  the  pre- 
vention of  crime. 

The  care  and  training  of  children  is  an  educa- 


TRUANCY  129 

tlonal  problem.  It  is  one  that  can  be  handled 
better  through  wise  educational  methods  than 
by  any  courts.  When  children  are  placed  in  the 
hands  of  the  schools  for  certain  years  of  their 
life  it  is  the  duty  of  the  schools  to  meet  every 
problem  of  child  life,  and  not  to  turn  the  difficult 
ones  over  to  other  agencies  less  fitted  to  meet 
them  in  a  way  that  will  help  the  children. 

Young  Teachers. — The  youngest  and  most  in- 
experienced teachers  would  certainly  give  their 
help  generously  to  wayward  children  if  they 
realized  the  great  influence  their  personalities 
might  exert  on  the  after-life  of  each  child.  It  is 
to  these  teachers  that  more  than  one-fourth  of 
the  school  children  must  look  for  guidance  in 
school  life.  Many  of  these  children  are  hard  to 
deal  with  and  try  sorely  a  teacher's  patience. 
Many  of  them  come  from  homes  where  parents 
have  been  neglectful,  and  then  the  task  is  doubly 
hard  for  the  teacher.  I  do  not  believe,  however, 
there  is  a  single  teacher  who  would  not  bend 
every  effort  to  overcome  the  faults  in  children 
if  he  or  she  once  grasped  the  far-reaching  effect 
such  effort  would  have  on  the  future  lives  of 
those  children.  Every  teacher  will  have  chil- 
dren who  are  disorderly  and  who  seek  to  make 
trouble  in  the  school.  Good  results  would  fol- 
low if  the  teacher,  instead  of  keeping  such  chil- 
dren in  after  school  and  scolding  them,  should 
invite  them  to  go  to  a  baseball  game  or  for  a 


130  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

walk  with  her  to  collect  specimens  for  the  school. 
If  the  teacher  thus  met  these  children  more  than 
half-way  in  the  spirit  of  comradeship  it  would 
be  easy  to  tell  them  of  the  work  expected  of  the 
teacher  and  the  school,  and  it  would  be  easy 
to  learn  more  of  the  motives  and  ideals  animat- 
ing the  lives  of  these  children. 

A  Personal  Relation. — Once  such  a  friendly 
personal  relation  as  this  is  established  it  would 
be  very  natural  to  ask  the  help  of  these  children 
in  the  school,  and  to  give  them  responsibilities 
which  show  confidence  in  them  and  which  would 
put  them  in  the  way  of  helping  to  maintain  the 
standards  of  the  school.  Such  a  method  of  deal- 
ing with  children  would  be  more  effective  than 
sending  notes  of  complaint  to  parents  or  send- 
ing the  children  on  to  the  teacher  of  the  next 
grade  with  the  message  that  James  or  Lucy  has 
been  a  very  troublesome  child.  Try  it,  teachers, 
with  troublesome  children.  Get  at  the  heart  of 
the  child.  Find  out  why  he  is  a  trial  to  him- 
self and  to  others.  No  problem  in  mathematics 
you  may  ever  solve  will  equal  in  value  the  prob- 
lems you  may  solve  in  learning  to  understand 
and  help  the  children  who  are  problems  to  you. 
Do  not  give  up  the  solution  or  pass  it  on  to 
others.  It  is  your  chance  to  render  a  service  of 
inestimable  value  to  some  child  and  to  the  world. 
You  will  meet  children  who  will  take  your  pen- 
cils, tablets  or  it  may  be  your  pocketbook.     Do 


TRUANCY  131 

not  think  that  you  must  pass  the  correction  of 
such  children  on  to  others.  Remember  that 
children's  characters  are  not  yet  formed,  that 
they  are  weak  and  ignorant  of  the  gravity  of 
their  offenses.  Help  them  to  see  their  faults 
and  to  correct  them. 

The  Child  Who  Steals. — Every  teacher  must 
sooner  or  later  face  the  problem  of  the  child 
who  steals.  Do  not  expel  him  from  the  school; 
do  not  publicly  reprimand  him.  Do  not  have 
him  arrested  and  sent  to  court,  but  take  the 
child  and  talk  quietly  with  him.  Find  op- 
portunities of  talking  to  the  school  about  re- 
specting the  rights  and  the  property  of  others. 
A  child  is  not  necessarily  abnormal  or  beyond 
hope  because  he  steals,  and  you  should  think 
what  a  great  service  you  will  render  him  if  you 
give  him  a  different  ideal  of  life  without  bring- 
ing him  into  disgrace.  Of  course,  the  aid  of 
parents  should  be  enlisted  in  helping  such  way- 
ward children — not  by  way  of  asking  that  they 
be  punished,  however,  but  in  order  to  secure  the 
cooperation  of  both  parent  and  teacher  in  the 
great  task  of  character  building. 

The  Child  Who  Lies. — You  will  encounter 
children  who  deceive  and  are  untruthful.  You 
must  expect  this,  but  you  should  not  help  to 
make  them  lie  by  asking  questions  which  en- 
courage untruthfulness.  Do  not  make  children 
fear  you — there  is  a  difference  between  fear  and 


133  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

respect.  You  can  make  children  see  that,  while 
you  desire  quiet  and  order,  it  is  a  more  serious 
offense  to  tell  a  falsehood  than  it  is  to  whisper. 
Children  do  not  have  the  perception  of  relative 
values  that  you  have.  It  is  in  your  place  to 
make  them  understand  the  standards  you  ex- 
pect the  school  to  maintain.  You  should  inter- 
est the  children  with  the  idea  of  making  them 
work  with  you  instead  of  for  you. 

Irregular  Attendance. — You  will  have  chil- 
dren who  are  irregular  in  their  attendance.  If 
you  can  deal  with  them  without  outside  help  it 
will  be  advantageous  both  to  the  children  and 
the  school.  Try  to  make  all  the  children  under- 
stand what  the  school  should  mean  to  them,  and 
that  standards  can  not  be  kept  up  without  their 
regular  presence.  Make  children  feel  it  is  their 
school  and  that  their  responsibility  is  as  great 
as  yours  in  keeping  it  right.  You  should,  of 
course,  learn  why  a  child  stays  away  from  school 
and  often  you  will  find  it  necessary  to  devise 
some  means  for  preventing  non-attendance.  Re- 
member only  that  to  save  the  child  who  is  go- 
ing astray  is  worth  all  the  thought  and  effort 
you  can  give.  When  you  recollect  that  half  of 
the  children  requiring  the  attention  of  juvenile 
courts  are  truants  you  will  realize  that  the  ex- 
perience is  a  critical  one  in  the  lives  of  these 
children.  Next  to  the  child's  own  parents  you 
can  exert  more   influence  on  his  life  than  any 


TRUANCY  133 

one  else.  This  matter  takes  patience  and  indi- 
vidual study,  because  in  each  case  the  reason 
for  truancy  may  be  different.  What  greater  re- 
ward can  any  teacher  have  than  to  know  that 
she  has  helped  a  child  to  overcome  a  fault  w^hich 
would  lead  him  into  serious  trouble  later  and 
perhaps  has  saved  him  from  a  life  of  crime? 
You  are  in  your  first  year  of  teaching  and  you 
have  seen  nothing  of  the  lives  spent  in  reforma- 
tories and  prisons  largely  because  of  lack  of 
proper  care  in  youth.  Through  your  patient 
interest,  however,  in  the  least  attractive  and 
most  irritating  children  you  should  know  that 
you  may  save  a  human  life  from  ruin.  Where 
home  conditions  are  worst  for  a  child,  there  is 
the  greatest  need  for  your  help. 

Parents'  Cooperation. — Invite  all  the  parents 
of  your  children  to  come  to  the  school.  Organ- 
ize a  parent-teacher  association  under  the  advice 
of  the  Home  Education  Division  of  the  United 
States  Bureau  of  Education  or  the  National 
Congress  of  Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher  Asso- 
ciations in  Washington,  D.  C.  Such  an  associ- 
ation will  be  of  incalculable  value  to  you  in  en- 
listing the  cooperation  of  parents  in  your  work 
for  their  children.  It  gives  parents  the  best  and 
readiest  opportunities  of  learning  about  meth- 
ods that  have  proved  valuable  in  bringing  up 
children.  Your  acquaintance  with  the  children's 
parents,   too,   will   give   you   side-lights    on   the 


134  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

children's  characters  which  will  help  in  under- 
standing them. 

Your  profession  brings  you  into  contact  with 
life  in  its  formative  period.  Try  to  find  the  good 
in  each  child  and  try  to  stimulate  it.  Seek  to 
inculcate  high  ideals.  Only  He  who  sees  the 
secrets  of  all  hearts  may  know  what  you  accom- 
plish. Such  lessons  in  character  building  will 
live  long  after  more  formal  ones  are  forgot. 

The  Bureau  of  Education. — The  United  States 
Bureau  of  Education  for  many  years  confined  its 
work  principally  to  questions  relating  to  the 
schools,  but  recently  the  wider  field  covered  by 
education  has  been  recognized  and  several  di- 
visions have  been  created  in  the  Bureau  which 
open  limitless  fields  of  service.  The  work  of 
the  Bureau  may  properly  cover  every  phase  of 
education.  Questions  concerning  every  phase  of 
education  and  child  life,  from  a  child's  birth  on 
and  through  his  graduation  from  college  as  a 
young  man,  as  well  as  questions  concerning  the 
education  of  parents  in  child  nurture,  may  prop- 
erly be  investigated  through  this  national  edu- 
cational bureau. 

The  establishment  of  the  Home  Education 
Division  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  marks  an 
important  advance  in  the  opportunities  given 
to  parents  to  further  their  own  education.  This 
Division  will  recommend  to  them  interesting 
and   valuable   reading  matter   in   regard   to   the 


TRUANCY  135 

care  and  home  education  of  their  children  with 
reference  to  physical  welfare,  in  the  matter  of 
health,  sleep,  food  and  the  like.  The  Division 
will  also  furnish  advice  as  to  games  and  plays 
for  children  and  as  to  their  early  mental  devel- 
opment and  the  formation  of  moral  habits.  The 
Division  also  endeavors  to  interest  boys  and 
girls  who  have  left  school  and  who  are  still  at 
home  in  furthering  their  education  by  well 
planned  courses  of  home  reading  and  study. 

Bulletins  and  literature  practical  in  character 
will  be  issued  and  will  be  available  for  every 
home.  Doctor  Claxton  says:  ''Rightly  used,  the 
home  is  the  most  important  factor  in  the  educa- 
tion of  children.  Through  its  Home  Education 
Division  the  Bureau  of  Education  is  trying  to 
help  the  home  to  do  its  best  work."  In  accom- 
plishing this  end  the  cooperation  of  teachers 
everywhere  is  invited  to  bring  parents  together 
to  discuss  their  common  problems.  Apprecia- 
tion of  Doctor  Claxton's  action  in  establishing 
a  method  for  home  education  has  been  voiced  in 
thousands  of  letters  from  homesteads  in  the  wil- 
derness, homes  on  the  prairies  and  homes  in  the 
most  thickly  populated  districts  of  the  country. 
Thus  is  being  filled  a  need  that  has  evidently 
been  felt  everywhere. 

First  and  foremost  in  saving  erring  wayward 
children  should  be  their  parents.  It  is  therefore 
a  matter  of  great   importance  to  have   parents 


136  THE  .WAYWARD  CHILD 

as  well  organized  as  teachers,  and  to  bring  the 
parents  of  the  nation  into  intelligent,  sympa- 
thetic, purposeful  cooperation  with  the  teachers. 
Both  are  educators  of  the  children.  Neither  can 
do  their  best  work  except  through  united  effort. 
Homes  as  well  as  schools  belong  to  the  educa- 
tional system.  They  have  received  the  recogni- 
tion of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education 
as  an  integral  part  of  the  educational  system. 
This  action  should  go  far  toward  raising  the 
standards  of  homes  and  toward  insuring  more 
efficient  guidance  and  direction  of  children. 


CHAPTER    X 

THE   saloon's   part   IN    THE   DOWNFALL   OF   YOUTH. 

THE  study  of  the  causes  which  lead  to  a  large 
proportion  of  the  crimes  of  youth  takes  one 
to  liquor  and  the  saloon.  It  is  a  fact  so  generally 
admitted  that  discussion  of  it  is  unnecessary. 
The  testimony  of  those  who  are  enduring  im- 
prisonment throughout  the  nation  is  in  accord 
with  the  views  of  all  business  men  and  with  the 
educational  and  religious  sections  of  the  entire 
country.  Even  the  liquor  dealers  themselves  in 
their  official  organ  recently  admitted  that  the 
sentiment  of  the  nation  is  opposed  to  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  liquor,  and  it  was  further  said 
that:  "When  the  moral  and  religious  forces  of 
the  country  unite  on  a  definite  plan  for  its  aboli- 
tion, the  end  is  here." 

The  Saloon. — One  of  the  first  steps  to  be 
taken  for  the  wholesale  diminution  of  crime 
must  be  the  wiping  out  of  the  saloon.  It  should 
not  be  permitted  to  continue  its  ravages  under 
official  sanction.  Great  advances  have  been 
made  in  this  direction,  but  the  whole  traffic  in 
liquor  should  be  abolished.     Not  a  single  saloon 

137 


138  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

should  enjoy  official  sanction  to  injure  the  com- 
munity. To  carry  concealed  weapons  is  a  crime 
— how  much  greater  are  the  possibilities  for 
harm  lurking  in  the  universal,  ever-present  sa- 
loon! Respect  for  law  is  lost  when  people  find 
their  government  sanctioning  things  which  are 
harmful,  and  there  can  be  no  honest  difference 
of  opinion  concerning  the  expense  and  injury 
which  liquor  causes. 

Schools  have  done  much  to  educate  youth 
concerning  alcohol  and  the  result  of  this  educa- 
tion has  been  shown  in  the  enactment  of  prohi- 
bition laws  in  many  states.  The  young  men  are 
demanding  the  abolition  of  liquor.  In  Tennes- 
see prohibition  laws  were  sustained  over  Gov- 
ernor Patterson's  veto.  Since  that  time  Gov- 
ernor Patterson  has  renounced  in  the  strongest 
terms  his  views  as  to  "personal  liberty"  when 
applied  to  liquor,  and  he  now  urges  the  govern- 
ment to  prevent  its  manufacture  and  sale. 

The  refusal  of  large  business  houses  to  employ 
men  who  drink  has  been  another  blow  to  the 
evil.  For  the  protection  of  childhood  and  the 
salvation  of  youth  liquor  must  cease  to  have  the 
sanction  of  law  in  undermining  homes  and  de- 
stroying and  blighting  human  lives. 

Three  hundred  thousand  earnest  women  have 
worked  for  forty  years  to  remove  this  menace  to 
youth.  As  mothers  and  home  makers  they  have 
fought  for  the  protection  of  the  home.     Mothers 


■  THE  SALOON'S  PART  139 

and  home  makers  suffer  equally  with  those  who 
are  slaves  to  the  habit.  There  is  no  sorrow 
greater  than  that  suffered  by  a  wife  and  mother 
who  sees  the  father  of  her  children  a  drunkard 
and  a  criminal  as  the  result  of  liquor.  There  is 
no  sorrow  greater  than  that  of  the  mothers  of 
men  and  women  who  are  in  prison  as  a  result 
of  their  use  of  liquor.  No  financial  gain  on  the 
part  of  liquor  dealers  and  manufacturers  can 
balance  the  loss,  the  sorrow  and  misery,  the 
crime  that  the  world  suffers  as  a  consequence 
of  the  use  of  liquor. 

National  Regulation. — Congress  has  now  un- 
der consideration  a  measure  which,  if  adopted, 
will  strike  at  the  root  of  the  evil.  A  bill  has 
been  introduced  in  the  Senate  by  Senator  Works 
of  California,  and  referred  to  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee, proposing  an  amendment  to  the  consti- 
tution prohibiting  the  sale,  manufacture  and  im- 
portation of  distilled  liquors  containing  alcohol 
after  a  period  of  three  years  next  succeeding  the 
ratification  of  this  article  by  the  legislatures  of 
three-fourths  of  the  states.  Mr.  E.  E.  Covert, 
employed  to  collect  data  on  this  subject,  says: 
"Notwithstanding  the  great  increase  in  prohibi- 
tion and  dry  territory,  the  increase  in  consump- 
tion of  spirituous  liquors  has  increased  at  a  tre- 
mendous rate."  Mr.  Covert  in  his  report  con- 
tinues :  "The  conclusion  is  irresistible  that  pro- 
hibition in  the  states  does  not  prohibit,  that  the 


140  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

states  and  local  government  are  impotent  to  en- 
force the  law,  and  that  if  the  United  States  is  to 
be  saved  from  alcoholism  the  remedy  must  be 
applied  at  the  root  of  the  evil,  and  that  is  to 
abolish  the  distilleries  and  the  importation  of 
spirituous  liquors.  Congress  has  not  the  power 
under  the  present  constitution  of  the  United 
States  to  stop  its  manufacture,  so  it  will  take 
such  an  amendment  as  above  proposed  to  accom- 
plish the  end  desired."  Whether  or  not  this  bill 
as  introduced  shall  be  passed  must  depend  on 
the  support  it  may  receive  from  the  distinter- 
ested  men  and  women  of  the  United  States. 
The  liquor  interests  will,  of  course,  expend 
money  and  effort  freely  to  prevent  its  passage. 
The  mere  fact  that  the  bill  has  been  placed  be- 
fore Congress  gives  hope  that  before  many  years 
have  gone  by  the  abolition  of  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  distilled  liquors  will  be  an  accom- 
plished fact.  The  anomaly  of  a  government 
which  licenses  the  sale  of  a  product  causing  an 
increase  in  crime,  while  at  the  same  time  pro- 
viding for  the  severe  punishment  of  every  crime 
committed  under  its  influence,  will  then  have  dis- 
appeared. 

Governmental  Expense. — The  income  derived 
by  the  government  from  this  death-dealing  in- 
dustry is  more  than  covered  by  the  expense  of 
the  prosecution  and  imprisonment  of  those  who 
succumb  to  its  influence  and  sq  become  law- 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  141 

breakers  and  criminals.  If  governments  are 
formed  for  the  protection  of  their  citizens  they 
can  not  command  respect  and  at  the  same  time 
accept  revenue  which  comes  at  the  cost  of  the 
physical  and  moral  degradation  of  these  same 
citizens. 

Saloons  with  official  licenses  meet  the  eyes  of 
youth  everywhere.  In  the  smallest  towns  the 
proportion  of  them  to  the  population  is  often 
greater  than  in  the  largest  cities.  No  home  can 
protect  children  from  this  danger,  for  it  is  ever 
present.  Every  saloon  is  given  official  sanction 
to  undermine  homes,  wreck  families  and  ruin 
the  lives  of  untold  thousands.  The  city,  the 
state  and  the  nation  owe  protection  to  youth. 
Instead  of  sanction  being  given  to  the  sale  of 
liquor  in  saloons  the  whole  traffic  should  be  abol- 
ished. It  is  the  foe  of  those  who  specially  need 
protection.  Those  who  have  no  home  life,  who 
are  away  from  home  influences  or  who  live  in 
congested  districts  are  often  led  through  their 
social  instincts  to  the  only  bright,  warm  place 
where  a  welcome  is  always  given.  Boys  emu- 
late the  example  of  the  men  with  whom  they 
come  in  contact.  They  drink  because  others  do 
it.  The  craving  for  drink  does  not  come  until 
the  habit  has  been  formed,  and  often  before 
drink  has  become  a  habit — the  first  time  a  boy 
has  taken  too  much — he  commits  some  offense 
which  mars  his  whole  future. 


142  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

The  Saloon  or  the  School. — "I  had  no  trade 
and  saloons  and  dives  were  my  only  places  of 
recreation,"  says  one  young  man  now  in  prison 
as  a  result  of  his  use  of  liquor.  This  is  a  condi- 
tion which  should  not  exist  anywhere  while 
there  are  schoolhouses  which  are  closed  and 
dark  every  evening  and  which  best  offer  them- 
selves as  places  of  recreation.  They  are  dedi- 
cated to  youth.  They  should  serve  the  needs 
of  youth  in  as  many  ways  as  possible.  Every 
village  and  town  has  its  schoolhouse,  and  every 
schoolhouse  should  have  an  assembly  room  in 
addition  to  its  room  provided  with  desks. 
Schools  which  have  no  assembly  room  should 
be  fitted  with  movable  desks.  Libraries  can  be 
obtained  for  schools  with  little  effort  and  games 
can  be  provided.  A  cheerful  room,  pleasant  com- 
panions, warmth,  light  and  a  welcome  would 
make  this  meeting  place  a  powerful  competitor 
of  the  saloon.  The  expense  should  not  be  con- 
sidered, but  the  end  it  will  serve.  Such  a  plan 
involves  the  employment  of  at  least  one  man  or 
woman  to  be  present  every  evening,  to  care  for 
and  direct  the  activities  of  the  young  people  who 
come.  This  duty  should  not  be  added  to  the 
teacher's  burden.  The  National  Congress  of 
Mothers  and  Parent-Teacher  Associations  can 
give  information  and  help  in  regard  to  this  val- 
uable use   for  school   buildings.     This   associa- 


THE  SALOON'S  PART.  143 

tion  can  be  reached  in  Washington,  D.  C,  in 
Room  910  of  the  Loan  and  Trust  Building. 

Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.— Through  coop- 
erative effort  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  Y.  W.  C.  A.  build- 
ings as  well  as  church  buildings  can  be  made  into 
such  attractive  meeting  places  as  to  drive  the 
saloon  out  of  business.  A  definite  count  of  all 
the  saloons  in  a  district  can  be  made  and  through 
the  cooperation  of  the  schools,  churches  and 
other  agencies  for  public  welfare  the  power  of 
the  saloons  in  that  district  can  be  made  of  no 
account  by  the  substitution  of  something  better. 

A  man  who  is  interested  in  learning  why  men 
are  in  prison,  he  himself  being  a  prisoner,  says: 
"Statistics  of  this  prison  show  that  eighty  per 
cent,  of  the  men  confined  here  owe  their  down- 
fall to  the  American  saloon  or,  in  other  words, 
to  whisky."  "Closing  the  saloons  would  stop 
nine-tenths  of  the  crime  now  committed,"  is  the 
opinion  of  another,  who  adds :  "Liquor  is  the 
entire  cause  of  my  being  in  prison."  An  Ameri- 
can man  who  has  spent  years  in  prison  and  who 
attributes  his  downfall  to  liquor,  says:  "The  gov- 
ernment ought  to  be  held  responsible  for  all 
crime  committed  under  the  influence  of  drink 
while  it  licenses  the  saloons."  Another  prison  in- 
mate who  in  his  youth  was  deprived  of  right  in- 
fluences but  who  in  the  quiet  hours  of  a  long 
imprisonment  has  had  much  time  for  thought, 


144  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

writes:  "If  schools  would  instruct  children  about 
the  curse  of  drink  I  believe  there  would  be  less 
crime  among  coming  generations.  God  grant 
there  may  be.     It's  hell." 

It  is  a  serious  question  whether  one  group  of 
citizens  has  a  right  to  manufacture  and  sell  any 
product  which  is  as  prejudicial  to  youth,  to 
homes  and  to  society  as  liquor  has  proved  to 
be.  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation,"  is  a  part  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  It  is  a  prayer  that  lawmakers 
must  consider  if  they  would  prevent  the  misery 
that  has  broken  up  countless  homes  and  turned 
thousands  of  children  adrift.  They  owe  it  to 
youth  to  remove  as  speedily  as  possible  the 
source  of  such  a  large  proportion  of  crime. 

EFFECTS  OF  LIQUOR WRITTEN  BY  PRISON  INMATES. 

American,  forty-one:  ''My  drunken  father 
died  when  I  was  nine.  My  mother  died  when  I 
was  eleven.  I  was  in  a  Catholic  school  when 
ten  years  of  age.  I  reached  the  high  school  be- 
fore leaving  school.  If  it  were  not  for  liquor 
and  cigarettes  there  would  be  less  crime  com- 
mitted in  this  wide  world  of  ours." 

American,  thirty-four:  "I  had  a  good  home 
and  a  fair  education.  I  began  early  to  use  liquor 
and  go  with  bad  company.  I  was  arrested  at 
twenty  and  sent  to  prison  for  eighteen  months 
I  have  served  four  terms.     I  was  arrested  first 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  145 

for  a  trifling  offense.  Afterward  it  was  hard  to 
get  along." 

American,  thirty:  *T  lived  with  my  grand- 
mother, who  was  a  good  Christian  woman  and 
was  more  than  a  mother  to  me  from  infancy. 
I  attended  school  regularly.  Liquor  has  been 
the  cause  of  my  trouble.  I  have  served  thirteen 
months  in  the  Windsor  Reform  School  and  am 
now  in  prison." 

Canadian,  thirty-six:  *'Liquor  has  been  the 
cause  of  all  my  trouble.  I  was  arrested  for  bur- 
glary at  sixteen,  and  was  sent  to  the  Elmira  Re- 
formatory. The  influence  was  detrimental  to 
me.  I  don't  believe  in  sending  young  boys  to 
reformatories,  as  there  is  where  they  learn  to 
become  crooks.  I  learned  my  crooked  work  in 
the  Elmira  Reformatory  under  Z.  R.  B.  There 
would  be  fewer  crooks  if  the  courts  would  parole 
first  offenders  instead  of  sending  them  to  pris- 
on." 

American,  thirty-one:  "Liquor  has  been  my 
trouble.  I  think  if  some  of  the  judges  would 
use  more  discretion  and  let  more  of  the  mere 
children  go  instead  of  sending  them  to  so-called 
reform  schools  you  would  soon  find  that  the 
state  prisons  would  not  be  overcrowded  with  so- 
called  reformed  boys  and  girls." 

American,  forty:  'T  preferred  work  to  going 
to  school  and  so  attended  irregularly.  Lack  of 
schooling  and  not  being  able  to  take  positions 


146  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

and  liquor  caused  my  trouble.  I  was  arrested 
for  stealing  at  seventeen  and  sent  to  prison  for 
a  year.  I  have  served  thirteen  terms  in  prison. 
I  did  ten  years  w^here  there  w^as  no  light  in  my 
cell,  and  no  books." 

American,  forty-three:  "I  committed  burglary 
at  sixteen  while  drunk.  Liquor  and  bad  com- 
panions were  the  causes  of  my  ruin.  Most  of 
the  inmates  of  the  Elmira  Reformatory  you  will 
meet  in  the  state  prison.  Two  out  of  three  are 
recruits  from  this  place,  and  the  worst  kind. 
This  is  nothing  but  the  truth." 

American,  thirty:  "Liquor  was  my  downfall, 
and  as  long  as  it  is  sold  it  will  be  the  downfall 
of  many  more.  Reformatories  are  no  places  for 
boys  or  men.  They  taught  me  what  I  did  not 
already  know  of  crime." 

American,  twenty-seven:  *T  had  a  drinking 
father.  Evil  companions  and  drink  caused  my 
arrest  for  burglary  at  sixteen.  I  was  sent  to  a 
reformatory,  where  the  influence  was  not  good. 
Sending  a  youth  or  man  to  a  reformatory  or 
prison  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  sending  him 
to  a  school  of  crime.  There  should  be  more  use 
of  the  suspended  sentence  and  parole." 

American,  twenty-four :  "I  was  a  child  of 
drinking  parents.  If  I  liad  had  temperate  par- 
ents, especially  my  mother,  I  never  would  be  in 
prison.     Drink  has  Ijccu  my  greatest  trouble." 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  147. 

American,  forty-five :  "Liquor  is  the  cause  of 
my  trouble.  It  got  the  best  of  me.  I  was  sent 
to  prison  for  five  years  at  twenty-eight.  I  tried 
my  hardest  to  Hve  within  the  law  when  I  was 
released,  but  I  had  no  friends  and  no  money 
and  the  world  gave  me  a  cold  shoulder.  A  kind 
word  and  some  one  to  help  me  to  a  position,  or 
to  give  me  sufficient  to  keep  me  until  I  secured 
one,  would  have  helped  me  to  lead  an  honest 
life.  If  a  criminal  has  a  right  to  suggest  what 
would  help  those  in  prison,  I  should  say  it  would 
be  a  moral  instructor  who  would  call  on  the  pris- 
oners once  in  a  while,  and  who  would  use  his 
influence  wherever  possible  in  getting  a  dis- 
charged man  a  job.  Otherwise  he  is  a  lost  man, 
since  not  one  man  out  of  every  fifty  will  employ 
an  ex-convict  unless  some  one  speaks  for  him  as 
to  his  behavior  while  in  prison  and  the  desire 
he  shows  of  wanting  to  lead  an  honest  life." 

American,  thirty-two:  "I  wish  to  say  that  dur- 
ing my  life  among  criminals  I  have  never  met  a 
single  man  who  has  fallen  except  through  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  There  are  probably 
other  causes  but  I  have  never  met  with  them  and 
I  have  met  some  thousands." 

American,  thirty-four:  "My  mother  worked 
out.  Everything  was  scarce  at  home  and  we 
were  hungry.  I  spent  time  in  gambling  dives 
and  saloons.    I  was  arrested  at  nine  for  fighting. 


148  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

I  wanted  to  be  a  bully  like  my  father.  If  my 
father  had  been  a  man  I  could  tell  a  different 
story." 

American,  twenty-three:  "My  father  died 
when  I  was  two.  Home  was  not  pleasant.  I 
had  a  roaming  disposition.  I  attended  school 
four  years,  I  spent  my  evenings  gambling. 
Liquor  was  the  cause  of  my  downfall.  Children 
should  obey  their  parents.  I  would  not  be 
spending  my  life  in  prison  if  I  had  obeyed  my 
mother." 

American,  fifty-seven:  "My  whole  trouble  was 
due  to  liquor.  Nine  times  out  of  ten  crime  is 
committed  through  the  use  of  liquor.  The  gov- 
ernment ought  to  be  held  responsible  for  all 
crime  committed  under  the  influence  of  drink." 

American,  thirty-six:  "I  had  drinking  parents. 
I  stole  an  overcoat  because  I  needed  liquor." 

American,  forty-five :  "My  father  was  a  drunk- 
ard. My  parents  seldom  lived  together.  My 
father  supported  saloons  and  my  mother  was  a 
washwoman.  I  was  an  orphan  at  twelve.  The 
government  sanction  of  rum  in  saloons  broke  up 
our  home." 

Scotchman,  thirty-four:  "Evil  companions 
and  drink  caused  my  arrest  for  larceny  at  six- 
teen. I  should  never  have  known  as  much  about 
crime  and  the  way  to  work  it  without  being 
caught  if  I  had  never  been  sentenced  to  a  re- 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  149 

formatory.  It  was  there  I  learned  all  the  finer 
points  of  a  criminal." 

American,  thirty:  "My  mother  drank  and  she 
died  when  I  was  fourteen.  I  was  three  times  in 
a  protectory  in  childhood  and  once  in  a  house  of 
refuge.  I  was  arrested  at  eight  for  petty  lar- 
ceny. I  always  got  the  strap  and  no  kind  words. 
Kind  words  would  have  made  a  m.an  of  me.  Bad 
company  and  drink  are  the  two  things  that  bring 
many  men  to  prison." 

Irishman,  sixty:  "I  had  drunkards  for  parents. 
I  had  almost  no  schooling  and  spent  my  child- 
hood in  an  almshouse.  I  have  used  liquor  the 
last  fifty  years.  I  never  would  have  seen  the 
inside  of  a  prison  if  I  could  have  let  drink  alone. 
It  has  been  the  cause  of  all  my  misfortune.  I 
wish  there  was  not  a  saloon  in  the  country.  If  I 
had  been  properly  trained  by  my  parents  I  might 
have  been  different." 

American,  twenty-seven:  'T  lost  my  father 
when  a  year  old.  Liquor,  cigarettes  and  sport- 
ing women  were  the  causes  of  my  trouble.  Kind- 
ness and  sympathy  would  have  helped  me.  They 
are  the  resurrection  of  mankind  from  sin.  Show 
a  man  kindness  and  sympathy  after  trouble  and 
he  can  not  do  enough  for  you  according  to  my 
experience." 

American,  twenty-five :  *T  attended  school 
regularly.     Drink  and  fast  women  caused  me  to 


15Q  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

go  crazy  temporarily.  The  result  was  homicide 
and  a  sentence  to  twenty  years  in  prison.  My 
experience  proves  that  drink  can  do  more  mis- 
chief than  any  other  thing  under  the  sun.  I 
don't  wonder  at  the  prisons  being  filled  when  re- 
ligion is  being  cut  out  of  the  schools.  Parents 
neglect  to  send  their  children  to  Sunday-school." 

American,  twenty:  "My  mother  died  when  I 
was  fourteen.  Home  was  pleasant  until  then. 
After  my  mother  died  I  got  wild  and  went  to 
drinking.  That  and  bad  company  led  me  to 
burglary  at  fifteen.  I  was  sent  to  a  reforma- 
tory for  five  years.  The  influence  was  not  good. 
If  I  had  not  been  sent  away  for  my  first  offense 
it  would  have  helped  me.  People  seem  to  think 
if  a  young  fellow  does  wrong  he  should  be  sent 
to  a  reform  school.  It  is  a  mistake.  They  are 
schools  of  crime.  Don't  send  a  lad  there  unless 
you  want  him  to  go  to  prison  afterward." 

American,  twenty-seven:  "I  committed  mur- 
der at  twenty-three  while  under  the  influence  of 
liquor.  It  was  the  whole  cause  of  the  trouble. 
My  sentence  is  life  imprisonment." 

American,  twenty-three:  "I  am  in  prison  for 
twenty-five  years.  I  owe  my  downfall  to  whisky, 
houses  of  ill  repute  and  gambling." 

American,  twenty-eight:  *T  was  adopted  in 
infancy.  I  committed  burglary  at  twenty-three 
when  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  I  had  previ- 
ously spent  two  years  in  a  reform  school  where 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  151 

the  influence  was  bad.  I  was  sent  out  on  parole 
and  had  to  work  for  my  board,  being  allowed  no 
freedom  or  money  for  clothes  or  amusements  of 
any  kind." 

American,  thirty:  ''Liquor  was  the  cause  of 
all  my  trouble.  I  was  arrested  at  fourteen  for 
receiving  stolen  money.  I  was  kept  in  prison 
three  months  awaiting  trial  and  was  then  dis- 
charged. This  first  time  did  it  all.  People  hold 
it  against  you  for  being  in  prison.  It  is  hard  to 
live  it  down.  If  some  man  who  knew  my  past 
would  have  given  me  a  job  it  would  have  given 
me  a  chance." 

American,  twenty-five:  "I  began  work  at  nine 
years  of  age.  I  used  cigarettes  and  liquor.  I 
was  guilty  of  larceny  at  twenty-two  years  be- 
cause of  drink  and  having  no  work.  I  was  sent 
to  prison  for  three  years.  Kindness  and  sym- 
pathy would  have  helped  me  to  live  an  honest 
life." 

American,  twenty-two:  "I  was  sent  to  a  coun- 
ty jail  at  twenty  for  six  months.  Liquor  was  the 
whole  cause  of  my  trouble." 

Englishman,  forty-five:  "My  father  drank, 
my  mother  died.  I  had  two  stepmothers,  learned 
no  trade  and  used  liquor  from  fourteen  years  of 
age.    My  offense  was  larceny." 

American,  twenty-nine:  "Saloons,  bad  houses, 
gambling,  were  my  ruin." 

American,   twenty-five:    "I  believe  that  over 


152  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

sixty  per  cent,  of  the  prison  population  in  the 
world  to-day  owe  their  downfall  to  liquor.  Do 
away  with  the  saloons  and  give  the  children  a 
good  education  and  there  will  be  less  crime  and 
imprisonment." 

American,  twenty-three :  "The  saloon  is  a 
curse  to  our  country  and  should  be  abolished 
with  its  associates — the  house  of  ill  fame  and 
the  gambling  table.  Liquor  and  the  gambling 
table  were  entirely  the  causes  of  my  downfall." 

American,  forty-seven :  "My  mother  died  and 
I  began  work  at  eleven.  I  had  no  trade.  I  used 
liquor  and  think  it  the  cause  of  my  trouble." 

Englishman,  fifty-six:  "I  am  well  educated. 
Have  been  a  cook  and  butler.  I  committed  mur- 
der through  liquor  in  defense  of  myself  and  an- 
other." 

American,  twenty-nine :  "I  was  a  newsboy  and 
messenger  boy.  I  used  liquor.  I  stole  when  out 
of  work  at  twenty-four,  having  a  wife  and  baby 
to  support.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for 
from  one  to  seven  years.  The  influence  was  the 
worst  possible.  The  appetite  for  drink,  and  loss 
of  public  confidence,  with  family  troubles,  led 
to  other  terms  in  prison." 

American,  twenty-six:  "My  mother  died  when 
I  was  fifteen.  The  cause  of  my  trouble  was 
liquor." 

American,  thirty-two:  "At  the  age  of  sixteen 
I  was  arrested  for  selling  liquor,  which  I  also 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  153 

used.  I  was  an  inmate  in  a  reformatory  seven- 
teen times.  The  influence  was  bad.  I  was  first 
sent  to  jail  by  mistake  and  after  twenty-five  days 
was  turned  out  in  the  rain  without  a  cent.  I 
then  tried  to  get  revenge." 

American,  twenty-seven:  *Tf  saloons  had  not 
been  where  I  could  enter  them  I  never  would 
have  made  the  mistake  of  my  life." 

A  man  serving  his  third  term  in  prison,  forty- 
five  years  for  murder,  says:  "What  would  help 
most  to  live  an  honest  life  would  be  a  place  of 
recreation  for  the  poor  boy  as  well  as  the  rich — 
an  opportunity  to  labor  regularly  at  honest 
wages,  a  place  of  recreation  away  from  the  influ- 
ence of  saloons  and  dives  kept  by  consent  of 
the  law." 

American,  fifty-one :  "I  broke  a  window  while 
intoxicated  when  twenty-five  years  old.  I  was 
arrested  and  sent  to  jail  for  thirty  days.  Liquor 
and  being  put  in  jail  with  other  crooks  have  pre- 
vented my  leading  an  honest  life." 

American,  twenty-one:  "I  had  a  drinking  fa- 
ther, and  my  mother  worked  out.  I  had  little 
schooling.  I  spent  my  evenings  in  saloons,  and 
holidays  in  the  pastures  drunk.  I  was  arrested 
at  twenty  for  drunkenness.  The  greatest  help 
to  live  an  honest  life  would  have  been  some  one 
to  look  after  me  when  I  was  young." 

American,  twenty-one :  "My  father  died  when 
I  was  five.     I  had  little  schooling  and  little  care. 


154  THE  .WAYWARD  CHILD 

Liquor  and  no  one  to  look  after  me  were  the 
causes  of  the  burglary  for  which  I  was  arrested 
at  twenty." 

American,  forty:  "I  was  arrested  at  twenty 
for  being  drunk.  Liquor  has  been  all  my  trou- 
ble.   My  parents  drank,  too." 

American,  thirty:  "My  mother  died  when  I 
was  eight.  I  had  a  drinking  father  who  made 
home  dreadful.  I  spent  my  evenings  as  a  child 
in  pool-rooms  and  card-rooms.  I  began  work 
at  nine.  My  first  offense  was  getting  drunk  at 
fourteen.  I  went  on  drinking  and  was  sent  to 
prison." 

American,  forty-five:  "I  was  guilty  of  assault 
while  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  I  was  sent 
to  a  reformatory  for  four  years  when  eighteen. 
The  influence  was  bad.  I  have  served  three 
terms  in  prison.  Liquor  was  the  cause  of  my 
trouble." 

American,  twenty-four:  "Bad  company  and 
liquor  were  my  troubles." 

A  German,  twenty-eight  years  old,  says:  "Re- 
move the  saloon  with  all  its  blasting  elements." 

American,  forty-seven :  "I  worked  a  confi- 
dence game.  I  used  liquor  and  cigarettes.  It  is 
my  own  fault." 

American,  thirty-one:  "I  never  had  a  home 
or  went  to  school.  I  was  guilty  of  larceny  at 
sixteen.  It  was  partly  caused  by  liquor.  My 
life  is  a  failure  simply  because  I  never  had  a  good 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  155 

home  and  lived  always  with  people  who  abused 
me  in  my  childhood.  I  don't  wonder  that  I'm 
in  jail." 

American,  thirty:  "I  had  a  good  home  and  ed- 
ucation. .Wrong  associates  led  to  drink,  and 
drink  to  crime.  Self-control  would  have  helped 
most  to  lead  an  honest  life.  After  being  a  pris- 
oner the  people  shunned  me." 

An  American  writes :  "Boys  should  be  taught 
to  shun  saloons,  and  criminal  business  will  de- 
crease if  saloons  are  forbidden." 

American,  twenty-seven:  "Liquor  is  the  ruin- 
ation of  man.  Crime  is  committed  under  the  in- 
fluence of  liquor." 

American,  thirty-four :  "The  law  that  permits 
one  class  of  men  to  distil  and  give  or  sell  poison 
to  others  will  always  have  criminals  or  paupers 
to  deal  with,  and  a  land  cursed  with  crime.  Do 
away  with  making  liquor  and  eighty-five  per 
cent,  of  crime  will  disappear.  Liquor  was  the 
cause  of  my  ruin." 

American,  thirty-nine:  "Home  was  not  pleas- 
ant owing  to  a  drunken  and  neglectful  father. 
I  do  not  possess  the  will  power  to  overcome  the 
appetite  for  strong  drink.  It  is  the  principal 
cause  of  my  being  in  prison." 

American,  thirty-one :  "Liquor  began  my  trou- 
bles. I  was  arrested  for  larceny  and  sent  to  a 
reform  school  for  five  years.  The  influence  was 
bad.     I  tried  to  get  work  when  I  was  released 


156  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

but  I  was  weak  and  unable  to  labor.  While  in 
the  reformatory  they  treated  me  severely  and 
the  environment  was  not  good.  In  my  judgment 
the  system  is  all  wrong.  I  stood  days  and  nights 
in  irons  without  rest  or  something  to  eat.  I 
have  been  five  years  in  prison." 

American,  twenty-six:  "Liquor  is  all  the  cause 
of  my  being  in  prison.  I  was  arrested  at  four- 
teen for  stealing  coal.  I  was  then  sent  to  a  re- 
formatory and  have  had  four  terms  in  prison. 
To  help  the  youth  of  this  country  I  think  that 
closing  the  saloons  would  stop  nine-tenths  of 
the  crime  now  committed.  Boys  should  also  be 
kept  from  running  around  corners  with  people 
older  than  themselves,  as  they  teach  them  to  do 
wrong." 

American,  twenty-two:  "License  no  saloons 
and  you  can  tear  down  half  the  prisons.  A  light 
sentence  for  my  first  offense  would  have  helped 
me  to  an  honest  life." 

American,  thirty:  "My  parents  were  divorced. 
I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  at  thirteen.  It 
taught  me  to  be  crooked.  After  one  conviction 
your  life  is  ruined.  If  all  young  fellows  would 
have  a  club  in  which  to  meet  instead  of  a  saloon 
there  would  be  a  great  decrease  in  crime." 

Scotchman,  twenty-two:  "I  had  drinking  par- 
ents. My  mother  died  when  I  was  nine.  I  real- 
ly never  had  a  home  or  any  early  training,  and 
had  little  schooling.     I  stole  when  nine  years 


THE  SALOON'S  PART  157 

old — was  brought  up  to  it.  I  was  sent  to  a  re- 
formatory for  from  one  to  five  years.  The  in- 
fluence was  emphatically  bad.  I  was  transferred 
to  prison.  I  think  that  drinking  parents  should 
not  be  allowed  the  care  of  their  children." 

American,  twenty-eight :  "I  had  a  drinking 
father.  I  stole  at  seventeen  while  under  the  in- 
fluence of  liquor.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory 
for  three  years  and  six  months.  The  influence 
was  not  helpful.  I  have  had  two  terms  in  prison 
since.  I  was  without  a  trade  and  unable  to  get 
work." 

Mexican,  twenty-four:  "Home  troubles  caused 
me  to  leave  home  when  I  was  eleven  years  old. 
I  kept  company  with  tramps  and  hoboes.  I  was 
guilty  of  murder  at  eighteen,  and  have  a  life  sen- 
tence. Liquor  and  bad  company  were  the 
causes." 

American,  twenty-seven:  *T  was  arrested  for 
discharging  firearms  within  city  limits.  Drink- 
ing caused  my  troubles." 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE  STATERS  METHODS  IN  TREATMENT  OF  CRIME 

npHE  criminal  code,  which  dates  back  for  more 
'■'  than  two  hundred  years,  was  undoubtedly- 
designed  for  the  protection  of  society.  It  em- 
bodies a  statement  of  the  acts  which  should  be 
considered  criminal  and  the  punishment  to  be 
inflicted  for  each  crime,  leaving  the  maximum  or 
minimum  amount  to  the  discretion  of  the  court. 
The  criminal  code  requires  police  arrests, 
criminal  courts,  prisons,  executioners  and  all  the 
machinery  with  which  every  nation  is  familiar 
for  the  treatment  of  offenders  against  the  law. 
Time  has  brought  many  changes  in  this  code, 
as  regards  both  the  deeds  called  criminal  and 
the  punishments  prescribed  for  them,  though 
every  change  has  been  fought  bitterly  by  the  ad- 
herents to  the  old  regime. 

There  has  been  a  thorough  test  of  the  present 
system  of  criminal  procedure  in  its  application 
to  past  generations.  Everywhere  the  verdict  is 
that  crime  is  increasing,  that  more  courts  and 
more  prisons  are  needed.  Is  it  possible  that  the 
state  may  itself  be  a  factor  in  the  increase  in 

158 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  159 

criminality,  through  mistaken,  inefficient  meth- 
ods of  treatment  of  offenders  and  through  in- 
difference to  and  ignorance  of  the  contributory 
causes  of  such  offenses?  Is  it  not  at  any  rate 
reasonable  to  investigate  the  effects  of  methods 
so  long  in  use  in  order  to  learn  whether  they  are 
in  any  degree  responsible  for  the  increase  in 
crime?  It  is  true  that  society  must  be  protected, 
but  it  is  equally  true  that  society  would  be  better 
protected  were  measures  for  preventing  crime 
studied  with  a  view  to  their  taking  the  place  of 
a  system  of  mere  punishment. 

It  is  a  plain  duty  of  the  state  to  make  provi- 
sion for  the  study  of  means  for  preventing  crime 
and  also  of  the  real  causes  contributing  to  it. 
This  is  as  important  a  duty  as  the  maintenance 
of  the  present  outworn  system  which  has  not 
proved  effective  in  lessening  crime  or  in  lessen- 
ing the  community's  expense  for  punishment. 

Criminal  Procedure. — The  first  recognition  by 
city  or  state  that  an  individual  has  offended 
against  the  law  is  his  arrest  by  one  of  the  police- 
men whose  duty  it  is  to  patrol  the  city  or  country 
in  order  to  protect  law-abiding  citizens  from  the 
menace  of  the  lawless.  Any  individual  who  has 
made  himself  amenable  to  the  criminal  law  must 
first  pass  through  the  drag-net  of  the  police  sys- 
tem. There  is  no  age  limit  for  arrest,  the  small- 
est child  being  open  to  it.  Some  restrictions  are 
laid  down,  however,  as  to  the  age  at  which  an 


160  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

individual  can  be  regarded  as  responsible  for  his 
deeds.  The  limit  varies  in  the  different  states 
from  seven  to  fourteen  years  of  age.  Until  1899 
criminal  procedure  was  everywhere  the  same  for 
children  as  for  adults,  provided  of  course  the 
child  did  not  fall  within  the  age  limit  of  the  state 
where  the  offense  was  committed. 

After  arrest  the  individual  is  given  a  hearing, 
usually  in  a  magistrate's  court.  In  large  cities 
there  may  be  forty  or  more  of  these  courts,  one 
for  each  ward  or  district.  All  so-called  minor 
cases  are  heard  and  decided  there.  There  is  no 
jury,  and  yet  the  power  of  commitment  to  re- 
formatories or  prisons  is  given  to  these  magis- 
trates. In  criminal  procedure  there  really  are  no 
minor  cases,  for  if  crime  is  to  decrease  the  time 
to  prevent  it  is  before  the  offender  has  become 
habituated  to  wrongdoing.  As  it  is,  many  thou- 
sands of  men,  women  and  children  are  tried 
yearly  in  these  courts  and  their  futures  are  often 
decided  then  and  there.  No  one  claims  that  any 
effort  is  made  to  choose  magistrates  on  the  basis 
of  their  possession  of  qualities  that  fit  them  to 
undertake  so  grave  a  responsibility.  Many  of 
them  do  conscientiously  try  to  do  what  will  be 
l)est,  but  few  of  them  have  given  special  atten- 
tion to  the  subject  of  human  development.  They 
are  in  the  seat  of  authority  to  dispose  of  cases 
as  the  law  directs,  and  often  they  are  regardless 
or  ignorant  of  the  causes  that  have  led  the  pris- 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  161 

oner  into  their  presence  and  unaware  of  the 
vital  importance  of  their  decisions.  They  may 
open  or  shut  the  door  of  opportunity  to  every 
individual  who  comes  before  them.  It  means 
everything  to  the  individual  and  the  state  that 
the  ofificials  of  minor  courts  should  be  men  quali- 
fied to  judge  of  the  possibilities  of  each  life  and 
of  what  can  best  be  done  for  each  person.  There 
should  be  some  means  of  learning  the  results  of 
sentences  given  in  these  minor  courts.  To  con- 
tinue to  follow,  unless  it  is  efficient,  a  routine 
adopted  ages  ago  is  sheer  folly. 

Minor  Offenses. — There  is  no  benefit  to  soci- 
ety in  imprisoning  a  man  for  ten  days,  a  month 
or  three  months,  and  in  repeating  the  process 
an  indefinite  number  of  times.  The  offender 
merely  loses  his  self-respect  and  finds  himself 
more  handicapped  than  ever  before  in  his  efforts 
to  do  better.  Cases  of  intoxication  and  other 
minor  offenses  require  treatment  different  from 
this.  The  liquor  habit  is  bad,  but  association  in 
jail  with  lawbreakers  of  all  kinds  is  worse,  for 
the  prisoner  usually  acquires  additional  bad 
habits  and  his  last  state  is  generally  worse  than 
his  first.  When  the  state  assumes  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  direction  of  a  life  an  opportunity 
should  be  given  for  forward  movement  instead 
of  retrogression. 

No  sufficient  provision  has  yet  been  made  for 
the  treatment  of  confirmed  drinkers.    These  are 


162  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

often  returned  to  jail  dozens  of  times  for  periods 
of  varying  length,  with  no  benefit  to  themselves 
or  anybody  else,  v^hile  their  families  are  in  the 
meanw^hile  often  disgraced  or  completely  broken 
up.  If  efficient  and  special  methods  for  the 
treatment  of  confirmed  drinkers  w^ere  devised 
and  established  they  would  reduce  crime  more, 
perhaps,  than  any  other  one  thing;  for  the  most 
terrible  crimes  are  often  committed,  not  pre- 
meditatedly,  but  as  a  result  of  intoxication. 

The  Minor  Courts. — The  minor  courts  have 
jurisdiction  over  nearly  all  cases  such  as  these, 
which  are  usually  preliminary  to  offenses  that 
lead  to  the  criminal  courts  and  the  penitentiaries. 
Something  more  than  punishment  is  needed  for 
the  person  who  has  lost  control  over  himself  and 
who  can  not  become  a  safe  citizen  until  he  re- 
gains it. 

The  Wayward  Girl. — For  the  wayward  or 
erring  girl  who  comes  within  the  meshes  of  the 
law  the  way  upward  is  made  very  difficult. 
Many  of  these  are  brought  into  the  minor  courts. 
Men  who  prey  on  women  make  it  a  point  to  at- 
tend the  hearings  of  girls  who  are  in  trouble. 
They  carefully  note  when  the  girls  will  be  freed, 
and  then  they  lie  in  wait  to  keep  them  on  the 
downward  path.  On  this  account  a  girl  who  in 
the  first  instance  may  have  been  more  sinned 
against  than  sinning  finds  it  almost  impossible 
to  retrace  her  steps  and  lead  a  pure  life.    Inves- 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  163 

tigation  should  be  made  as  to  whether  or  not 
imprisonment  of  these  girls  protects  society  or 
helps  the  girls  themselves,  for  unless  it  does  one 
or  the  other  a  different  method  of  treating  them 
should  be  devised. 

Juvenile  Offenders. — Until  1899  nearly  all  ju- 
venile offenders  were  taken  before  these  minor 
courts.  Children,  for  the  protection  both  of 
themselves  and  of  society,  require  the  most 
thoughtful,  sympathetic  and  intelligent  consid- 
eration when  they  are  being  treated  for  their 
offenses.  But  in  these  courts  the  practise  was 
either  to  reprimand  them  and  return  them  to  the 
same  influences  that  had  brought  them  into  trou- 
ble, with  nothing  to  prevent  further  wrongdoing, 
or  to  send  them  to  prisons  or  reform  schools. 
Thus  they  were  branded  with  the  stigma  of  ar- 
rest in  any  case,  and  perhaps  with  that  of  im- 
prisonment, where  besides  they  were  condemned 
to  associate  with  those  versed  in  every  phase  of 
crime.  In  these  cases,  too,  the  court  might  shut 
or  open  the  door  of  opportunity  to  youthful 
lives,  but  the  letter  of  the  law  was  all  that  was 
considered.  There  was  no  vision  of  the  possi- 
bilities of  childhood,  but  instead  the  belief  that 
some  are  criminals  from  birth  and  that  society 
must  be  protected  from  them. 

Children  in  Prisons. — In  every  prison  in  the 
United  States  until  within  a  few  years  ago  chil- 
dren could  be  found  in  large  numbers,  and  in 


164  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

many  they  are  still  there  to-day.  In  other  words, 
in  the  impressionable  and  formative  years  of  life 
thousands  of  children  were  receiving  from  the 
state  an  enforced  education  in  crime.  Could  it 
be  expected  that  crime  would  decrease  under 
such  conditions?  The  result  of  such  a  condition 
was  as  certain  as  that  healthy  children  if  con- 
demned to  a  smallpox  hospital  would  contract 
smallpox. 

During  the  last  century  well-meaning  people, 
feeling  that  erring  children  required  special 
treatment,  established  reform  schools  for  that 
purpose.  These  schools  constituted  the  first  step 
in  recognition  of  the  need  for  a  treatment  of  ju- 
venile offenders  different  from  that  accorded 
adults.  In  many  states  they  became  a  part  of 
the  official  machinery  for  the  protection  of  so- 
ciety against  crime.  There  has  now  been  ample 
opportunity  to  test  their  efficiency  in  character 
building. 

The  reform  school  is  in  fact  a  juvenile  prison 
with  educational  features  added.  Children  are 
often  taken  there  handcuffed,  like  ordinary  crimi- 
nals. In  some  of  these  schools  fully  half  of  the  In- 
mates have  come  there  because  irresponsible 
parents  were  glad  to  be  relieved  of  the  support 
of  their  children  until  they  In  turn  could  con- 
tribute to  the  support  of  the  family.  A  state- 
ment from  a  child's  parents  that  he  was  incor- 
rigible has  usually  been  sufficient  In  times  past 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  165 

to  gain  the  child's  commitment,  especially  if 
there  was  a  fee  in  it  for  the  magistrate.  Thus 
on  one-sided  evidence  children  have  been  con- 
demned to  uninspiring  surroundings,  to  institu- 
tional instead  of  family  life,  and  the  state  has 
been  wronged  in  having  to  support  children 
whose  families  should  have  been  responsible  for 
them. 

Whether  or  not  the  reform  school  has  accom- 
plished what  its  promoters  hoped  from  it  can 
only  be  determined  by  the  verdicts  of  those  who 
have  spent  their  early  years  within  its  confines. 
At  least  the  effort  was  a  conscientious  one,  and 
one  of  the  first  steps  through  which  the  special 
needs  of  children  were  emphasized. 

Criminal  Courts. — Criminal  courts  have  both 
a  judge  and  a  jury  but  have  no  jurisdiction  over 
magistrates'  courts.  From  the  view-point  of  the 
prevention  of  crime  the  lower  courts  are  more 
rather  than  less  important,  as  the  first  treatment 
of  an  individual  often  determines  his  whole  fu- 
ture. The  criminal  courts  with  their  juries  sit 
for  the  trial  of  offenses  graver  than  those 
handled  in  the  minor  courts.  The  common- 
wealth employs  the  prosecutor  and  often  more 
effort  is  made  to  prove  a  prisoner  guilty  than  to 
get  at  the  facts  of  the  case.  Juries  decide  cases 
on  the  basis  of  the  evidence  given,  and  after 
their  decision  the  judge  fixes  the  penalty  within 
the  rather  large  latitude  allowed  him  by  the  law. 


166  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

The  marked  divergency  of  sentences  for  similar 
offenses  is  one  of  the  curiosities  encountered  by 
those  who  study  the  records  of  criminals. 

Prisons. — The  next  part  of  the  state's  ma- 
chinery for  the  protection  of  society  from  the 
criminal  is  the  prison.  In  the  United  States  we 
have  invested  approximately  five  hundred  mil- 
lion dollars  for  prisons,  and  we  annually  expend 
about  two  hundred  millions  for  their  mainte- 
nance. It  is  estimated  that  eighty  thousand  of 
our  citizens  are  arrested  yearly.  The  cost  of  a 
year's  crime  is  estimated  to  be  not  less  than  six 
billion  dollars,  and  yet  only  eleven  per  cent,  of 
the  crimes  reported  are  punished. 

What  does  the  nation  get  in  return  for  this 
large  outlay?  We  get,  in  the  first  place,  as  much 
protection  for  society  as  is  possible  when  about 
eleven  per  cent,  of  our  offenders  against  the  law 
are  convicted  and  imprisoned.  In  the  second 
place  we  get  the  building  up  of  a  professional 
criminal  class  through  the  compulsory  associa- 
tion of  first  offenders  with  those  already  versed 
in  crime,  for  forty  per  cent,  of  those  who  serve 
a  first  term  come  back  later  on  for  a  second  one. 
And  in  the  third  place  we  get  the  satisfaction 
of  having  punished  the  lawbreaker,  together 
with  the  feeling  that  we  may  have  prevented  oth- 
ers from  following  in  his  footsteps,  through  fear 
of  similar  punishment. 

Recent  official  investigations  in  fourteen  states 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  167 

have  revealed  a  terrible  state  of  affairs  in  our 
prisons.  Shocking  cruelties  to  prisoners  have 
come  to  light,  as  well  as  conditions  so  detri- 
mental to  health  and  decency  that  no  human  be- 
ing should  ever  be  subjected  to  them.  In  esti- 
mating the  worth  of  our  prison  system  the  effect 
of  these  things  on  prisoners  must  be  taken  into 
consideration.  We  should  also  understand 
clearly  the  difificulties  a  prisoner  encounters  as  a 
result  of  his  punishment. 

Released  Prisoners. — The  youth  who  comes 
out  of  prison  is  given  five  or  ten  dollars  and  a 
new  suit  of  clothes  to  last  him  until  he  can  find 
work.  He  does  not  dare  admit  that  he  has  been 
in  prison,  for  no  one  will  knowingly  employ  a 
released  prisoner.  He  also  is  unable  to  give 
prospective  employers  any  references.  It  does 
not  take  long  to  use  the  small  amount  of  money 
given  him.  He  is  weak  as  a  result  of  his  im- 
prisonment, and  so  is  not  in  condition  to  do 
heavy  work.  He  is  an  object  of  suspicion  to  the 
police,  who  have  no  faith  in  a  released  prisoner's 
intention  to  live  honestly.  If,  despite  all  these 
difficulties,  he  is  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  work 
he  is  likely  to  lose  it  at  any  time,  if  some  one 
he  has  met  in  prison  lets  it  be  known  that  he  is 
an  ex-convict. 

Released  prisoners  are  ostracized,  not  for  the 
crime  that  sent  them  to  prison,  but  because  tbey 
have  been  sent  to  prison.      The   handicap   is  too 


168  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

great,  and  few  can  surmount  it.  In  appearance 
a  judge  sentences  an  individual  only  to  a  term 
in  prison,  but  all  too  often  he  in  reality  sentences 
him  to  a  life  of  crime. 

When  one  realizes  the  blight  of  a  prison  sen- 
tence on  any  life  one  can  not  help  supposing 
that  the  right  to  sentence  to  prison  would  be 
given  only  to  those  who  will  exercise  the  duty 
with  care  and  discretion.  Such,  however,  is  not 
the  case.  Here  is  the  experience  of  one  Ameri- 
can youth.  He  was  the  son  of  a  drinking  father, 
and  he  lost  his  mother  when  ten  years  old.  He 
had  no  opportunity  for  education  and  he  could 
not  get  work.  In  consequence  he  was  arrested 
for  vagrancy  and  sent  to  jail  for  fifteen  days. 
Can  any  trace  of  justice  or  common  sense  be 
discerned  in  such  treatment  for  a  case  of  this 
sort? 

When  dockets  are  crowded  little  time  can  be 
given  to  any  so-called  trivial  case.  And  yet  ten 
or  fifteen  days  in  jail  may  ruin  a  life,  where  a 
suspended  sentence  and  intelligent  help  could 
save  it. 

The  power  of  commitment  to  reformatories 
and  prisons  should  be  used  with  discretion,  and 
should  be  given  only  to  judges  who  appreciate 
the  grave  responsibility  entailed  by  such  power. 
This  power  of  sentencing  to  prison  is  too  freely 
used  and  is  a  large  factor  in  the  making  of  crim- 
inals.   The  world  outside  knows  little  and  thinks 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  169 

little  of  those  on  whom  the  prison  door  is  bolted. 
Ordinary  thought  scarcely  goes  beyond  the  fact 
that  shelter  and  food  have  been  provided  for 
those  who  have  transgressed  the  law,  save  in 
so  far  as  it  is  thought  that  there  is  a  "criminal 
class"  that  must  be  kept  from  harming  the  com- 
munity. 

Conditions  in  Prisons. — Imprisonment  is  only 
part  of  the  punishment  given  offenders.  The  life 
of  the  prison  inmate  is  full  of  other  hardships. 
He  has  to  live  in  a  narrow,  ill-lighted  cell,  de- 
prived of  fresh  air,  of  exercise  and  of  work;  he 
has  no  appeal  from  whatever  treatment  he  may 
receive;  often  he  is  crowded  with  several  other 
prisoners  into  a  cell  designed  for  one,  because 
space  does  not  increase  and  crime  does.  When 
the  state  deprives  an  offender  of  his  liberty  he 
should  not  also  be  limited  in  his  enjoyment  of 
pure  air  and  of  light  and  of  sufficient  space  for 
exercise  to  keep  him  in  good  physical  condition. 
Such  deprivations  as  these  should  not  be  in- 
cluded in  a  prison  sentence  in  a  civilized  coun- 
try. There  is  no  court  of  appeal  for  the  prison 
inmate.  His  presence  in  prison  cuts  him  off 
from  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  his  fellow 
men  as  well  as  from  their  confidence,  and  his 
life  is  wholly  under  control  of  those  put  in  charge 
of  him  through  political  influence. 

The  possibilities  for  hardship  and  injustice  are 
great,  for  it  is  generally  admitted  that  one  who 


170  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

deals  continually  with  crime  loses  sympathy  and 
becomes  hardened  and  thereby  unfitted  for  his 
work.  The  opinion  of  the  unconcerned  free  man 
on  the  outside  has  generally  been  that  since  the 
man  in  prison  is  a  criminal  he  deserves  all  he 
gets.  A  study  of  the  facts  shows  this  to  be  a 
fallacy.  Prison  inmates  are,  it  is  true,  men  and 
women  who  have  committed  crimes,  but  the 
prisoner  serving  a  first  term  is  never  a  profes- 
sional criminal.  Many  of  these  later  become 
professionals  because  after  they  have  been  in 
prison  practically  every  avenue  of  employment 
is  closed  to  them,  no  matter  how  greatly  they 
would  prefer  to  live  honestly  if  they  could. 

Many  people  regard  the  released  prisoner  as 
a  being  without  the  pale  of  humanity,  a  person 
to  be  avoided  in  every  way.  If  the  serving  of 
a  prison  sentence  so  degrades  the  offender  it 
would  seem  sensible  to  improve  the  method  of 
his  treatment  rather  than  to  continue  his  pun- 
ishment by  avoidance  and  ostracism.  The  adop- 
tion of  better  measures  in  the  treatment  of  pris- 
oners has  been  delayed  by  the  belief  that  those 
who  commit  crimes  do  so  on  account  of  some 
physical  or  moral  peculiarity,  the  premise  being 
that  criminals  are  dift'erently  constituted  from 
other  human  beings.  As  a  matter  of  fact  this 
premise  is  not  correct.  There  would  be  no  crim- 
inal class  if  proper  study  were  given  to  the 
causes   that   produce   the   criminal   and   efficient 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  171 

measures  taken  to  remove  the  contributing' 
causes.  Such  a  study  of  the  facts  would  show 
that  offenders  are  not  entirely  responsible  for 
their  deeds. 

The  prisoner  has  no  one  to  whom  he  can  go 
for  help.  Wardens  are  usually  appointed  on  ac- 
count of  political  service  rendered  by  them. 
Guards  are  chosen  for  strength  of  arm  and 
muscle  rather  than  for  their  spiritual  qualities. 
Through  daily  contact  with  those  over  whom 
they  exercise  the  most  absolute  authority  they 
often  forget  the  better  instincts  of  humanity  and 
become  brutal  and  abusive.  Prisoners  dare  not 
rebel  against  their  treatment,  for  if  they  do  the 
abuse  they  suffer  is  simply  increased. 

Prison  stripes,  the  number  system,  enforced 
idleness,  lack  of  an  adequate  amount  of  fresh 
air  and  exercise  are  all  cruelties  which  no  civ- 
ilized nation  has  a  right  to  inflict  on  those  whom 
it  is  deemed  necessary  to  deprive  of  liberty.  Im- 
mediate death  would  be  better  than  this  slow 
torture  which  undermines  health  and  character 
and  takes  away  all  opportunity  for  a  decent  life 
after  the  prisoner's  release.  The  fear  that  pris- 
ons will  ever  become  too  attractive  is  ground- 
less. Men  and  women  suffer  enough  punish- 
ment in  the  deprivation  of  their  liberty  to  pre- 
vent any  of  them  from  losing  their  dread  of  a 
prison  sentence,  even  though  it  were  accom- 
panied by  some  of  the  decencies  of  life, 


172  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Political  Control. — Prisons  can  never  be  what 
they  should  until  they  are  utterly  removed  from 
political  control.  All  men  and  women  who  have 
charge  of  them  should  go  into  the  work  conse- 
crated to  the  service  of  those  who  need  help. 
Those  who  take  these  places  should  be  men  and 
women  of  the  highest  character,  full  of  the  spirit 
of  justice  and  of  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate. 
Directors  of  prisons  should  be  men  and  women 
■who  can  give  at  least  one  day  of  every  week  to 
the  visiting  of  the  prison.  They  should  not  go 
occasionally  to  see  the  warden,  but  should  know 
at  first  hand  all  that  affects  the  life  of  the  in- 
mates. They  should  be  able  to  put  themselves 
in  the  places  of  those  who  are  forced  to  stay 
there,  and  so  consider  whether  or  not  conditions 
are  what  they  should  be. 

The  absolute  ignorance  of  the  outside  world 
concerning  life  within  prison  walls  has  made  it 
possible  for  evil  conditions  to  remain  there  un- 
changed. Among  greatly  needed  changes  is  the 
abolishment  of  the  contract  labor  system.  Work 
must  be  found  for  each  prisoner  which  will  pay 
for  the  expense  of  his  maintenance,  and  will  in 
addition  enable  him  to  earn  money  which  may 
either  be  given  to  his  innocent  but  helpless  fam- 
ily or  saved  so  as  to  enable  him  to  gain  a  foot- 
hold in  the  world  on  his  release. 

It  should  be  possible  for  inmates  to  learn 
trades  that  can  be  pursued  outside  the  prison, 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  173 

and  indeed  all  prisoners  should  be  equipped  to 
earn  an  honest  living  when  they  leave.  Prisons 
should  never  be  a  source  of  income  to  the  state, 
but  they  need  be  no  expense  except  for  build- 
ings. The  money  now^  devoted  to  maintenance 
should  be  spent  in  providing  for  prisoners  light, 
well  ventilated  rooms  in  place  of  the  unwhole- 
some, crowded  cells  now  in  use. 

Helping  Prisoners. — A  large  proportion  of 
those  serving  their  first  sentence  in  prison  could 
by  proper  treatment  and  help  both  before  and 
after  release  be  restored  to  useful  citizenship. 
Instead  of  building  more  prisons  and  creating 
more  courts  the  need  to-day  is  a  careful  study 
of  the  reasons  why  crime  increases.  All  the 
fault  is  not  with  the  convicts.  A  single  crime 
need  not  make  a  criminal,  but  its  punishment 
usually  does  succeed  in  making  one.  The  pres- 
ent system  amounts  to  a  compulsory  course  of 
education  in  every  phase  of  crime  and  often  in- 
cludes sentence  to  tuberculosis. 

To  put  into  the  hearts  of  those  who  have 
stumbled  a  living  belief  in  a  God  whose  laws  are 
the  only  safe  guide,  and  who  is  always  ready  to 
help  those  who  look  to  Him,  is  to  give  the  true 
compass  for  right  living.  Only  those  who  live 
what  they  teach  can  touch  the  hearts  of  others, 
and  with  the  Bread  of  Life  they  must  give  lov- 
ing kindness,  sympathy  and  patience.  Mission- 
ary work  for  every  church  lies  at  hand  in  the 


174  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

courts,  in  the  station  houses,  in  the  prisons,  at 
the  prison  door  when  a  prisoner  is  released.  If 
the  churches  could  take  up  this  work  through 
earnest,  kindly  people  who  know  the  conditions 
which  lead  so  many  astray  a  large  number  would 
be  saved  from  further  transgressions.  Punish- 
ment followed  by  ostracism,  however,  will  never 
result  in  making  offenders  into  useful  and  hon- 
orable citizens. 

Responsibility  for  Crime. — The  state  provides 
a  code  of  laws  for  the  protection,  education  and 
guidance  of  its  citizens.  The  laws  of  life  given 
by  God  are  ten  in  number.  The  laws  of  life  laid 
down  by  the  legislatures  of  forty-eight  states  and 
by  the  councils  of  our  cities  and  towns  mount  up 
into  the  hundreds.  Each  year  new  crimes  are  cre- 
ated by  the  passage  of  some  new  act,  subject- 
ing the  violator  to  arrest  and  prosecution. 

Making  New  Crimes. — This  situation  has 
brought  many  people  into  the  position  of  law- 
breakers who  do  not  rightfully  belong  there, 
which  is  unfortunate  both  for  the  individual  and 
the  community.  Compulsory  education  laws, 
for  instance,  have  been  adopted  for  the  purpose 
of  benefiting  the  child.  Their  enforcement  has 
brought  the  necessity  for  truant  officers,  special 
schools,  truant  schools,  the  arrest  of  parents  fol- 
lowed by  their  fine  or  imprisonment,  and  the 
bringing  of  children  into  the  courts  for  truancy. 
Items  like  the  following  have  become  common 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  175 

pieces  of  news  in  the  daily  press:  "Peter  Nawn 
was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  five  days  for 
failing  to  keep  his  boy  in  school.  He  said  he 
had  been  ill  eight  weeks  and  had  no  coal  in  the 
cellar  or  clothing  for  the  boy."  "When  Mrs. 
Dora  Ford  was  arraigned  in  Police  Court  yes- 
terday morning  on  a  charge  of  violating  the 
compulsory  education  law  in  not  sending  her  boy 
to  school,  she  pleaded  guilty,  but  explained  that 
the  boy  had  no  shoes  and  that  he  did  not  have 
sufficient  clothing  to  wear  to  school.  The  fa- 
ther of  the  boy  is  dead."  "Margaret  Maguire 
was  brought  into  Police  Court  because  her  girl 
had  been  a  truant  from  school.  She  pleaded  that 
she  had  to  go  to  work  at  seven  o'clock,  for  the 
support  of  the  family  depended  on  her.  In  her 
absence  there  was  no  one  to  see  that  the  girl 
went  to  school.  She  was  fined  $2.50."  "John 
Burns  and  Patrick  Mullen  were  arrested  for 
breaking  a  window  while  playing  ball  in  the 
street  in  violation  of  a  city  ordinance.  They 
were  held  for  Juvenile  Court." 

Education  is  undoubtedly  valuable  for  chil- 
dren, but  it  is  secured  at  too  serious  a  cost  when 
it  involves  placing  on  their  parents  the  stigma 
of  arrest  and  imprisonment.  Child  welfare  is  a 
question  having  many  sides.  One  may  gain  one 
phase  of  child  welfare  at  the  sacrifice  of  another 
quite  as  important.  It  is  time  to  call  a  halt  on 
the  passage  of  laws  creating  new  crimes.     The 


176  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

subject  of  child  welfare  includes  so  many  things 
that  must  be  weighed  and  balanced  and  made  to 
fit  into  one  another  that  no  adequate  safeguards 
will  be  placed  about  childhood's  best  interests 
until  a  carefully  chosen  child  welfare  commission 
is  appointed  in  every  state  to  study  the  condi- 
tions affecting  children  and  to  recommend  such 
measures  as  are  needed  for  their  protection. 

Efficiency  of  the  State. — Efficiency  is  de- 
manded to-day  in  all  human  activities.  The 
state,  with  its  code  of  laws,  its  system  of  enforce- 
ment, its  provisions  for  the  health  and  welfare  of 
its  citizens,  has  a  grave  responsibility  and  must 
answer  as  to  its  efhciency  quite  as  much  as  must, 
in  their  spheres,  citizens  or  corporations.  Meth- 
ods honestly  designed  to  be  beneficial  often  fail 
of  their  object.  The  only  real  test  is  the  con- 
stant study  of  actual  conditions  and  the  accu- 
rate observation  of  the  relations  of  cause  and 
effect. 

City  Ordinances. — The  city  that  makes  it  a 
crime  punishable  by  arrest  for  a  boy  to  play  ball 
in  the  street  and  at  the  same  time  provides  no 
playground  or  place  where  a  boy  may  enjoy  the 
activity  his  nature  requires,  is  in  a  large  degree 
negligent  of  its  entire  duty  and  therefore  re- 
sponsible for  the  familiarizing  of  boys  with  arrest 
and  courts.  The  city  which  permits  the  arrest 
of  a  gang  of  boys  for  some  breach  of  the  law  and 
then  allows  those  whose  parents  have  political 
pull  to  be  discharged  while  the  others  are  pun- 


TREATMENT  OF  CRIME  177 

ished,  is  teaching  disregard  for  law  and  is  re- 
sponsible for  future  crime.  The  city  which 
licenses  saloons  and  permits  youths  to  frequent 
them,  and  then  arrests  them  for  being  intoxi- 
cated, is  making  no  consistent,  sensible  effort  to 
protect  the  morals  of  its  younger  citizens.  The 
city  which  has  no  place  of  detention  other  than 
station  houses  or  jails  for  its  youthful  offenders, 
and  often  permits  them  to  mingle  with  those 
steeped  in  crime,  is  criminally  responsible  for 
many  wrecked  lives.  The  city  which  makes  no 
provision  for  the  proper  care  and  education  of  its 
homeless  waifs  is  responsible  for  the  lives  of 
many  of  the  men  and  women  whom  it  later  sup- 
ports in  prisons  and  almshouses. 

The  city  that  sends  its  dependent  little  ones  to 
reform  schools  for  their  care  and  training  is  sub- 
jecting them  to  influences  from  which  they 
should  be  guarded  and  is  doing  irreparable  in- 
jury for  which  it  will  later  surely  pay.  The  city 
which  permits  railroads  to  run  through  its  limits 
unfenced  and  unguarded  and  then  arrests  chil- 
dren for  picking  coal  on  the  tracks  is  neglecting 
the  protection  of  life  and  is  putting  needless 
temptation  in  their  way.  Any  city  that  main- 
tains conditions  favorable  to  the  growth  of  crim- 
inality is  responsible  for  that  growth.  Such  con- 
ditions are  an  absence  of  kindergartens,  the  ab- 
sence of  efficient  means  for  preventing  infant 
mortality,  the  lack  of  laws  against  congestion  of 
population  and  of  sanitary  housing  laws. 


178  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

A  city  is  contributing  to  the  making  of  crimin- 
als when  manual  training  is  not  provided  in  the 
schools,  when  the  schools  are  a  part  of  the  poli- 
tical system,  w^hen  insufficient  money  is  given  to 
the  schools  and  when  incompetent  persons  have 
the  direction  of  the  schools.  That  city  faces  a 
grave  responsibility  which  entrusts  judicial  de- 
cisions concerning  children  to  judges  who  have 
not  a  lively  sympathy  with,  and  a  special  knowl- 
edge of,  child  nature.  For  this  duty  there  are 
other  requirements  more  important  than  mere 
legal  qualifications. 

A  city  which  has  no  probation  system  is  not 
equipped  to  meet  the  questions  of  juvenile  de- 
linquency. A  city  is  contributing  to  the  making 
of  criminals  when  its  probation  system  is  under 
political  control,  or  when  not  enough  probation 
officers  are  employed,  or  when  officers  are 
chosen  who  have  little  love  for  children,  little 
patience  and  little  of  the  experience  which  years 
bring  to  parents. 

At  the  center  and  heart  of  society  stands  the 
child.  His  welfare  must  be  considered  and  pro- 
vided for  at  every  point.  Who  does  this  to-day 
in  any  city  ?  It  is  done  in  one  place  and  neglected 
in  another.  Whose  business  is  it  in  any  city  to 
know  what  affects  every  phase  of  child  life? 
Yet  this  is  an  efficient  means  for  removing  one 
of  the  great  contributing  causes  which  add  year- 
ly to  the  ranks  of  criminals. 


CHAPTER  XII 

REFORM  SCHOOLS  AS  A  PART  OF  THE  PENAL  SYSTEM 

THE  reform  school  was  introduced  less  than  a 
hundred  years  ago  as  a  means  of  relieving 
children  of  prison  life  and  associations  and  in 
many  states  it  was  made  a  part  of  the  penal  sys- 
tem. Children  were  sent  to  these  schools  at  the 
direction  of  the  court  and  it  was  not  forbidden  to 
commit  them  to  prison,  so  that  even  with  the 
schools  in  operation  thousands  of  children  still 
became  prison  inmates. 

The  reform  school  prevented  the  association 
of  children  with  adults  who  were  leading  crim- 
inal lives.  It  also  offered  educational  advantages 
not  found  in  prisons.  Why  has  it  been,  then, 
that  the  reduction  in  crime  sought  for  has  not 
materialized? 

One  Cause  of  Failure. — The  massing  together 
of  erring  children  as  a  means  of  elevating  char- 
acter would  not  be  deemed  an  efficacious  method 
by  any  one  who  has  studied  child  nature.  Imi- 
tativeness  is  a  marked  characteristic  of  children. 
They  copy  what  their  companions  do.  When 
their  associates  are  exclusively  those  who  have 
committed  some  offense  a  bad  result  is  naturally 

179 


180  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

to  be  expected.  One  girl  who  was  committed  to 
a  reform  school  for  picking  locks  in  a  single  week 
had  taught  twenty  others  how  to  do  it.  And  so 
the  matter  goes — each  child  becomes  a  teacher 
of  all  the  others  in  the  special  phase  of  crime 
with  which  he  is  familiar.  This  is  unavoidable 
and  must  be  recognized  as  a  condition  which 
exists  wherever  children  are  associated  with  one 
another. 

Erring  children  need  the  inspiration  and  stimu- 
lus of  association  with  wholesome  normal  chil- 
dren rather  than  condemnation  to  the  exclusive 
companionship  of  others  like  themselves.  Good 
is  contagious  as  well  as  evil.  But  the  acquaint- 
ances formed  in  reform  schools  are  a  serious 
drawback  for  any  child.  If  the  only  friends  of 
a  youth,  both  before  and  after  he  has  been  dis- 
charged from  a  reform  school,  are  those  whose 
lives  have  been  darkened  by  evil,  his  life  will  be 
constantly  filled  with  temptation  from  those 
whose  evil  habits  have  not  been  changed  by  the 
school.  Many  young  men  and  women  have  be- 
gun with  the  intention  of  doing  well,  but  have 
finally  succumbed  to  the  continued  appeals  of 
their  reform  school  friends. 

Children  who  are  wayward  should  be  separ- 
ated from  other  children  for  a  time.  The  per- 
sonal influence  of  a  good  man  or  woman  is  what 
they  most  need. 

When  reform  schools  grew  to  be  large  insti- 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  181 

tutions,  taking  in  hundreds  of  children,  a  serious 
blow  was  dealt  to  their  power  of  rendering  help 
to  the  children  they  housed.  Although  these 
schools  provided  good  educational  training  and 
the  teaching  of  trades  they  were  unable  to  over- 
come the  undermining  influence  of  the  massing 
together  of  the  erring  children  of  a  great  state. 
The  odds  were  too  great.  The  finding  of  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  men  and  women  able  to  cope 
with  this  great  drawback  and  to  build  character 
proved  very  difficult.  Many  who  have  attempted 
the  task  and  have  given  years  of  their  lives  to 
earnest  effort  in  it  are  honest  enough  to  say  that 
the  system  is  a  failure  and  that  they  do  not  be- 
lieve in  it.  The  superficial  appearance  of  the 
system  is  fine.  With  excellent  buildings,  good 
educational  work,  training  in  trades,  drills  and 
military  discipline,  good  food  and  physical  care, 
the  observer  is  wont  to  think  that  good  results 
are  bound  to  follow.  The  reports  of  these  schools 
are  also  full  of  the  numbers  who  have  been  re- 
formed in  them — and  yet  every  prison  superin- 
tendent says  that  a  large  proportion  of  prison  in- 
mates are  reform  school  graduates.  One  secret 
of  the  failure  of  these  schools  is  to  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  for  helpful  per- 
sonal influence  to  be  exerted  on  the  children  in 
them.  And  yet  it  is  admitted  that  these  chil- 
dren need  more  rather  than  less  personal  influ- 
ence than  the  average  child. 


183  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Indiscriminate  Commitments. — The  reform 
school  has  received  dependent  and  homeless  chil- 
dren as  readily  as  wayward  and  erring-  ones. 
Whomsoever  the  courts  send  must  be  received. 
Courts  have  been  limited  in  the  selection  of 
places  for  the  care  of  children,  and  often  it  has 
been  necessary  to  make  use  of  the  reform  school 
as  the  only  available  refuge  for  them.  Irreparable 
wrong  has  been  done  to  thousands  of  homeless 
and  dependent  children  by  their  being  forced 
into  association  with  those  versed  in  evil  habits 
of  every  kind.  In  a  number  of  states  such  chil- 
dren have  even  been  housed  and  brought  up  in 
prison  because  no  other  provision  has  been  made 
for  their  care. 

Irresponsible  Parents. — There  are  always 
some  parents  who  are  eager  to  shirk  their  duties 
as  parents  or  who  are  helpless  in  meeting  their 
responsibilities.  Children  have  suffered  griev- 
ously from  both  these  causes,  and  reform  schools 
have  had  to  assume  the  care  of  many  who  would 
never  have  been  committed  to  them  had  any 
careful  investigation  been  made  into  the  child's 
side  of  the  case. 

If  a  father  or  mother  dies  and  leaves  a  family 
of  children  these,  bereft  of  normal  home  care, 
often  become  independent  of  control.  When  a 
stepfather  or  a  stepmother  later  enters  the  home 
the  resulting  problem  is  a  difficult  one.  In  in- 
numerable instances  it  has  ended  with  the  par- 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  183 

ents  going  to  a  magistrate  and  petitioning  him 
to  send  the  child  to  a  reform  school  because  he  is 
incorrigible.  Until  the  establishment  of  juvenile 
courts,  absolute  power  to  make  such  a  commit- 
ment was  vested  in  magistrates.  The  child's  side 
of  the  question  was  not  investigated,  the  parents' 
verdict  being  taken  without  question.  A  fee  was 
also  allowed  magistrates  for  every  commitment. 
In  this  manner  hundreds  of  children  have  been 
quietly  railroaded  into  reform  schools. 

When  courts  require  that  parents  pay  board 
for  their  children  in  reform  schools,  the  parents' 
desire  to  have  them  committed  frequently  de- 
creases. Whenever  parents  are  able  to  bear  even 
a  portion  of  the  expense  they  should  be  required 
to  do  so,  as  this  increases  the  feeling  of  parental 
responsibility. 

Immigrant  parents  have  also  used  the  reform 
school  unjustly,  they  apparently  regarding  it  as 
a  sort  of  free  college  in  which  their  children  may 
be  reared  until  they  are  old  enough  to  be  self- 
sustaining.  A  mother  with  this  view  of  the  re- 
form school  said:  "Jo^^^i^*  yo^  see  that  street 
light?     Break  the  glass!     You  will  be  arrested 

and  sent  to .    You  will  have  good  things 

to  eat,  good  clothes  and  will  learn  a  trade.  And 
when  you  come  out  they  will  give  you  a  new 
suit  of  clothes."  So  Johnnie  followed  his  moth- 
er's advice.  Everything  came  out  as  she  said  it 
would,  but  when  he  came  out  he  took  away  with 


184  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

him  more  than  a  new  suit  of  clothes.  He  took 
the  friendships  he  had  made  there;  he  took  the 
knowledge  of  crime  he  had  gained  there;  he  took 
the  handicap  of  having  served  a  sentence  in  one 
of  the  state's  penal  institutions.  The  reform 
school,  of  course,  had  no  option  in  the  matter. 
It  must  receive  those  whom  the  court  commits 
to  its  keeping. 

The  third  class  of  parents  who  use  the  reform 
school  are  those  whose  children  do  get  beyond 
their  control,  and  they  regard  the  school  as  a 
place  better  equipped  than  their  home  for  the 
proper  training  of  their  children.  Such  parents 
are  heart-broken  when  they  find  that  their  chil- 
dren have  been  guilty  of  stealing  or  of  other 
grave  errors.  But  instead  of  dealing  with  them 
patiently  and  firmly  as  they  should,  they  appeal 
to  the  court  to  have  them  "sent  away."  Many 
are  the  men  and  women  who  owe  to  such  an  act 
of  their  parents  a  life  far  from  the  path  of  recti- 
tude and  honor. 

Parents  are  usually  careful  of  the  associates 
they  choose  for  their  children.  Those,  however, 
who  know  only  inmates  of  a  reform  school  have 
countless  temptations  set  before  them  when  they 
meet  these  youthful  friends  later  in  life.  Many 
a  boy  or  girl  can  date  his  or  her  downfall  from 
the  friendships  made  in  a  reform  school.  Though 
they  have  earnestly  desired  to  do  well  they  have 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  185 

finally  yielded  to  appeals  from  the  wrong  kind 
of  friends. 

The  Reform  School. — In  the  past  the  ease  with 
which  children  could  be  turned  over  to  the  care 
and  support  of  the  state  has  done  much  to  en- 
courage parental  irresponsibility.  This  condi- 
tion has  also  been  the  indirect  means  of  impart- 
ing to  children  a  knowledge  of  evil  which  has 
more  than  counterbalanced  the  good  things  of- 
fered by  the  reform  school.  The  state  has  had 
to  support  thousands  who  should  never  have 
come  under  its  care  and  who,  with  the  more  care- 
ful methods  now  in  use,  would  never  have  been 
permitted  to  go  to  reform  schools. 

The  reform  schools  can  not  be  held  altogether 
responsible  for  the  conditions  obtaining  in  them 
which  have  been  disastrous  to  so  many.  Neither 
are  the  courts  altogether  responsible.  For  one 
thing,  inadequate  provision  by  the  state  for 
childhood's  different  needs  has  led  to  the  em- 
ployment of  the  reform  school  for  purposes  so 
diverse  as  to  make  it  impossible  to  satisfy  them 
in  a  single  institution. 

The  indiscriminate  commitment  of  children  to 
these  schools  in  the  past  has  made  it  possible  for 
them  to  show  a  fair  percentage  of  success  in  their 
reports  of  reform.  If  we  eliminate  all  the  chil- 
dren who  should  never  have  gone  there — those 
guiltless  of  any  crime,  those  whose  parents  were 


186  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

irresponsible,  and  the  like — and  trace  for  ten 
years  the  lives  of  the  remainder,  we  are  forced 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  reform  school  does  not 
reform,  that  it  handicaps  rather  than  helps  a 
child. 

The  testimony  of  thousands  of  prison  inmates 
who  have  passed  through  these  schools  is  almost 
unanimously  to  the  effect  that  the  schools  helped 
to  make  them  criminals.  They  earnestly  urge 
that  no  child  be  sent  to  a  reform  school.  Such 
testimony  as  this  must  be  heeded.  It  has  been 
given  sincerely  and  with  an  earnest  desire  to 
help  those  who  are  studying  the  causes  of  crime 
and  estimating  the  efficiency  of  methods  used  in 
its  treatment. 

The  view-point  of  the  man  who  has  lived  his 
life,  who  can  look  back  and  see  what  has  con- 
tributed to  his  failure,  is  worthy  of  a  hearing. 
The  opinions  of  those  who  believe  they  are  doing 
valuable  work  must  be  modified  as  they  follow 
the  lives  of  those  who  have  written  their  heart- 
stirring  appeals  for  a  different  treatment  of 
youthful  errors. 

Large  Institutions. — Economy  has  been  urged 
as  a  reason  for  bringing  upward  of  a  thousand 
children — each  one  of  whom  presents  a  special 
problem — under  the  control  of  a  single  superin- 
tendent. The  cottage  system  has  ostensibly  been 
adopted  in  many  of  these  schools,  but  where 
fifty   or    sixty    children    are    gathered    together 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  187 

under  one  roof  all  semblance  of  a  normal  home 
is  lost.  In  almost  any  state  there  should  be  a 
hundred  homes  to  each  of  which  half  a  dozen 
children  needing  special  treatment  could  be  sent. 
These  homes  should  be  chosen  on  account  of  the 
special  ability  of  some  man  or  woman  to  bring 
out  the  good  qualities  in  children.  A  good  price 
could  be  paid  for  this  care,  because  the  state 
would  be  under  no  expense  for  grounds,  build- 
ings and  maintenance,  and  all  the  money  now 
spent  on  these  things  could  go  to  paying  for  the 
care  of  the  children.  No  distinguishing  mark 
should  set  these  homes  off  from  others.  They 
would  have  to  be  selected  and  supervised  very 
carefully,  and  this  should  be  done  by  a  commis- 
sion of  competent  specialists  in  child  nature. 
In  some  homes  perhaps  only  one  child  could  be 
cared  for,  while  others  could  take  in  several.  In 
all  cases  the  main  factor  to  be  looked  into  would 
be  the  personality  and  nature  of  the  father  and 
mother  in  the  home. 

The  Institution  Child. — The  boy  or  girl  who 
grows  up  an  institution  child,  with  no  one  to 
give  individual  sympathy,  no  one  to  get  at  the 
child's  heart  and  learn  what  the  child  is  really 
thinking,  is  deprived  of  factors  which  alone  will 
bring  out  his  best  qualities.  A  child  in  the  poor- 
est home  with  parents  who  care  for  him  is  hap- 
pier in  his  destiny  than  any  child  who  enjoys  the 
many  advantages  which  a  state  may  provide  in 


188  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

a  reform  school.  The  plain  truth  is  that  the  re- 
form school  can  not  fill  the  needs  of  all  children. 
Too  much  has  been  expected  of  it  in  the  past. 
And  in  the  future  the  state  should  be  prepared 
to  meet  the  requirements  of  all  the  children  that 
have  to  be  cared  for. 

No  time  should  be  lost  in  placing  every  school 
for  children  under  the  state  board  of  education, 
instead  of  placing  some  of  them  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  state  board  of  charities.  The  func- 
tion of  every  school  is  the  training  of  the  child. 
This  is  true  no  matter  what  children  are  being 
educated,  and  all  should  enjoy  the  same  advan- 
tages of  administration,  supervision  and  direc- 
tion. 

THE   REFORM    SCHOOL WRITTEN    BY    PRISON 

INMATES. 

An  American  twenty  years  old  who  once  spent 
ten  months  in  a  reformatory  says  of  that  experi- 
ence: *T  learned  more  than  I  ever  knew  of 
crime.  After  I  was  released  no  one  would  give 
me  work  without  reference.  I  am  serving  my 
fourth  term  in  prison." 

American,  nineteen:  'T  attended  school  regu- 
larly. Bad  companions  led  me  to  steal  at  four- 
teen. I  was  sent  to  a  reform  school  for  nineteen 
months,  and  am  now  in  prison  for  two  years  and 
ten  months.     It  would  have  helped  me  most  to 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  189 

be  honest,  not  to  be  sent  to  a  reformatory  and 
then  to  a  penal  institution  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 
When  a  boy  or  girl  is  arrested,  convicted  and 
sent  to  a  reformatory  and  gets  released  there  is 
but  little  hope,  as  the  reformatory  is  a  prepara- 
tory school  for  hardening  them  to  lead  a  crim- 
inal career.  To  my  knowledge  seventy-five  per 
cent,  of  them  get  into  penal  institutions.  Those 
that  do  not  are  leading  lives  of  crime  against 
nature  and  prostitution  and  vice.  When  these 
are  arrested  a  second  time  and  sent  to  a  penal 
institution  and  put  in  w^ith  old  offenders  and 
hardened  criminals  hov^  can  there  be  any  hope 
for  them?    I  have  seen  these  things  happen." 

American,  tv^enty-five :  "I  lost  my  father  at 
six,  and  began  work  at  seven.  I  was  guilty  of 
larceny  at  fourteen.  I  was  sent  to  a  county  jail 
for  ninety  days  and  afterward  was  in  a  reforma- 
tory. The  influence  was  bad.  I  was  transferred 
to  prison." 

American,  twenty-one:  *'My  mother  died 
when  I  was  two.  I  had  a  stepmother.  I  had 
little  schooling.  I  was  put  in  a  house  of  refuge 
by  my  father  because  I  would  not  attend  school 
and  I  blame  my  later  life  on  the  influence  of  that 
institution.  It  was  nothing  less  than  a  school  of 
crime." 

American,  forty-five :  "1  had  a  good  home  and 
education.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  a 
slight  offense.     The  influence  was  ruinous.     I 


190  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

have  served  five  terms  in  prison.  Kind  and  hon- 
orable treatment  after  my  first  faux  pas  would 
have  helped  me.  Reform  schools  are  breeding 
places  of  the  vilest  practices  that  human  beings 
can  perform.  The  present  system  should  be 
abolished.  No  boy  should  be  sent  away  until 
other  means  for  his  reformation  have  been  tried. 
Such  institutions  should  be  under  the  supervi- 
sion of  the  higher  clergy.  The  same  thing  is 
true  of  all  state  prisons.  All  prison  commis- 
sioners, superintendents  and  wardens  should  be 
strictly  honest  men,  and  the  most  honest  are 
not  among  politicians  but  among  the  clergy  of 
all  creeds.  Christian  women  of  known  capabil- 
ities should  be  given  more  power  in  the  admin- 
istration of  affairs  juvenile  and  in  general.  Sin- 
cere people  and  not  hypocrites  are  the  only  ex- 
amples to  place  before  the  eyes  of  our  children. 
Abolish  the  general  sale  of  cigarettes,  liquor, 
opium  and  its  products,  making  their  sale  with- 
out the  prescription  of  a  physician  a  felony. 
Punish  the  seduction  of  boys  and  girls  to  wrong- 
doing with  severe  sentences  for  repeated  of- 
fenses. Parole  all  first  offenders.  Abolish  the 
long-term  sentence  of  second  offenders." 

American,  thirty-eight:  "A  reformatory  makes 
more  criminals  than  it  reforms.  It  is  no  fit  place 
for  any  young  man  to  go." 

American,  forty:  "Institutions  are  the  great- 
est cause  of  crime.     Children  should  not  be  ar- 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  191 

rested  for  minor  offenses.  Reformatories  con- 
firm children  in  crime." 

American,  twenty-four:  "I  spent  five  years, 
from  nine  to  fourteen,  in  a  boys'  home.  While 
under  the  influence  of  liquor  I  broke  into  a  small 
store  at  ten  years  of  age.  I  was  sent  to  a  re- 
formatory. In  boys'  homes  and  reformatories 
the  tendency  is  toward  crime,  committed  not 
only  by  the  boys  but  on  them  by  their  male  su- 
pervisors— crimes  not  practised  by  the  dumb 
beasts  of  the  field." 

American,  thirty-four:  "If  I  had  not  been  sent 
to  a  reformatory  probably  I  should  never  have 
come  to  prison." 

American,  thirty-three :  "I  have  no  father  or 
mother.  I  was  beaten,  kicked,  starved  and  mis- 
used and  compelled  to  steal  by  my  supposed 
uncle.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  two  or 
three  years  where  the  influence  was  demoraliz- 
ing— then  to  prison  for  three  terms.  If  I  had 
ever  had  some  one  to  love  and  to  love  me  it 
would  have  helped.  Most  crime  is  a  product  of 
the  scheme  of  law  and  order  now  existing.  The 
whole  conception  in  my  estimation  is  wrong. 
To  teach  a  child  the  Ten  Commandments  and 
at  the  same  time  teach  him  to  break  them  is  hell 
for  certain." 

American,  twenty-two:  "The  best  thing  to  do 
with  a  boy  when  he  starts  to  steal  is  to  take 
him  to  a  near-by  lot  and  shoot  him.     If  that  had 


192  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

been  done  to  me  I'd  be  better  off  to-day.  All 
reformatories  are  nothing  but  schools  of  crime." 

American,  forty-one :  "I  had  a  drinking  fa- 
ther. I  was  sent  to  a  house  of  refuge  at  ten 
and  I  lay  the  blame  of  my  criminal  life  to  that 
sentence.  I  was  hounded  from  pillar  to  post  by 
policemen.  Men  leaving  prison  should  be  given 
work  or  money  to  keep  them  until  they  can  ob- 
tain work  for  themselves.  A  few  dollars  at  times 
may  prevent  crime." 

American,  thirty-six:  "I  attended  school  very 
little.  I  was  interested  in  stories  of  crimes  and 
thieves.  At  thirteen  I  was  sent  for  one  year  to 
a  house  of  refuge.  At  seventeen  I  was  arrested 
for  petty  larceny.  I  was  herded  with  a  lot  of 
criminals  and  sent  to  a  penitentiary  for  six 
months.  If  I  had  not  been  sent  to  the  house  of 
refuge  it  would  have  helped  me  to  live  right. 
I  learned  more  about  thieving  in  one  year  than 
I  could  learn  out  of  books  in  twenty  years.  Keep 
young  boys  away  from  homes  and  refuges.  The 
causes  of  my  crime  have  been  cigarettes,  evil 
companions,  trashy  books  and  no  idea  of  the 
seriousness  of  what  I  was  doing." 

American,  twenty-two:  "I  could  not  get  along 
with  my  father  and  so  left  home.  I  was  a  mes- 
senger boy.  I  was  arrested  at  seventeen  for 
petty  larceny,  and  was  sent  to  the  Elmira  Re- 
formatory. If  the  judge  had  suspended  sentence 
and  some  good  people  had  got  me  a  job  I  would 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  193 

not  be  here  to-day.  Elmira  Is  a  school  to  learn 
crime  instead  of  reforming  you.  What  I  did  not 
know  when  I  went  I  knew  coming  out.  I  cer- 
tainly did  graduate  with  a  head  full  of  crime. 
They  will  never  reform  anybody  by  sending  him 
there." 

American,  twenty-six:  "Lack  of  parental  con- 
trol and  influence  together  with  evil  associations 
led  me  to  petty  thieving  during  truancy  from 
school  when  I  was  fourteen.  I  was  sent  to  a  re- 
formatory where  the  influence  was  shockingly 
brutal.  My  candid  opinion  is  that  my  downfall 
— as  well  as  that  of  others  in  like  circumstances 
in  prison — was  caused  by  my  reformatory  ca- 
reer. Mine  was  a  demoralizing  one,  in  the  midst 
of  mismanagement,  brutal  vice  and  corruption. 
In  fairness  I  state  that  careful  research  will  prove 
that  at  least  sixty  per  cent,  of  crime  can  be 
traced  directly  to  reformatories." 

American,  forty-five :  "I  have  noticed  that  of 
the  men  I  have  met  in  prison  most  have  been  in 
some  institution,  and  that  I  have  been  is  the 
reason  why  I  am  here  to-day.  Never  send  a 
child  to  an  institution,  for  he  will  come  out 
hardened  to  crime." 

German,  thirty-three:  "I  was  arrested  at 
twenty-one  for  forging  a  check.  Necessity  for 
food  and  to  pay  rent  drove  me  to  it.  I  was  sent 
to  a  reformatory  for  two  and  a  half  years.  What 
I  had  not  known  of  crime  I  learned  there.     I 


194  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

tried  to  live  within  the  law  when  released  but 
was  recognized  by  an  ex-convict  and  I  lost  my 
job.  No  one  would  trust  me  and  give  me  a  job 
so  I  could  support  my  family." 

American,  thirty-two:  "I  was  sent  to  an  in- 
dustrial school  for  truancy  and  was  kept  there 
seven  years.  When  you  send  a  child  to  a  re- 
form school  you  make  a  criminal  out  of  him, 
for  what  badness  he  does  not  know  he  will  soon 
learn  while  there.  I  have  been  serving  time 
ever  since." 

American,  twenty-three :  "I  was  sent  to  a  re- 
form school  at  seventeen  for  nothing.  When  I 
came  out  I  knew  more  crookedness  than  the 
average  man  of  thirty.  The  influence  couldn't 
have  been  worse.  After  release  I  couldn't  get 
work.  I  tried  everything  and  almost  starved. 
An  honest  job,  which  I  couldn't  get,  would  have 
helped  me  to  live  right." 

American,  thirty-five:  "My  father  died  when 
I  was  seven  and  my  mother  when  I  was  eleven. 
I  was  arrested  for  larceny  at  sixteen.  It  was 
caused  by  my  love  of  money  and  the  good  times 
it  can  bring.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for 
a  maximum  of  ten  years.  Educationally  the  in- 
fluence was  good,  morally  it  was  bad.  Bad  com- 
panions and  police  persecution  after  release 
brought  me  to  prison." 

American,  twenty-four:  "My  father  drank.  I 
attended  school  irregularly.     I  spent  my  child- 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  195 

hood  in  a  state  institution  for  crime.  I  can  say- 
truthfully  that  if  I  had  not  been  sent  to  that 
state  industrial  school  I  would  have  been  more 
of  a  man  than  I  am  now.  I  did  not  know  any- 
thing about  crime  when  I  went  there,  but  when 
I  was  turned  loose  among  over  six  hundred  I 
soon  learned  tricks  that  I  had  never  dreamed  of. 
So  there  was  where  I  met  my  fate." 

English,  twenty-seven:  ^'Sending  a  kid  to  a 
juvenile  institution  ruins  him.  He  will  learn 
more  crookedness  in  one  month  in  a  house  of 
refuge  than  he  would  in  all  his  life  on  the  streets, 
and  going  from  a  house  of  refuge  to  a  reforma- 
tory is  like  going  from  a  public  school  to  a  high 
school." 

Russian,  twenty-six:  "My  father  was  a  Rus- 
sian revolutionist.  I  lost  him  when  I  was  ten. 
I  never  attended  school  or  learned  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments. At  nine  years  of  age  I  was  ar- 
rested for  picking  pockets  when  I  was  innocent. 
I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  in  Russia  for  six 
weeks.  This  is  why  I  remained  a  criminal.  I 
have  served  six  terms  in  prison.  An  ex-convict 
can  not  do  anything  honest." 

American,  forty-three:  "Want,  ignorance  and 
drink  led  me  to  my  first  crime  at  nineteen.  I 
was  sent  to  a  reformatory.  The  influence  was 
not  beneficial.  Never  send  boys  under  seven- 
teen to  any  reformatory.  The  conditions  are 
simply  vile   in  all    of  them.     The  officials  are 


196  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

mostly  good  men  but  the  morals  of  some  of  the 
boys  contaminate  the  others  in  spite  of  any 
watchfulness  of  officers." 

Italian,  twenty-five:  "I  was  brought  up  in  an 
orphan  asylum.  At  eighteen  I  was  arrested  for 
passing  counterfeit  money.  The  cause  was  ig- 
norance of  the  law  and  of  wrongdoing.  I  was 
sent  to  a  reformatory  for  ten  months.  The  in- 
fluence was  not  beneficial.  I  could  not  get  em- 
ployment without  references  after  being  re- 
leased. I  am  now  serving  my  third  term.  A 
helping  hand  and  less  hounding  by  the  police 
would  have  made  me  live  right.  The  influence 
and  teachings  of  reformatory  and  prison  have 
done  me  more  harm  than  good." 

American,  thirty-seven:  'T  had  a  drinking 
father  who  died  when  I  was  five,  and  five  broth- 
ers and  sisters  who  died  in  infancy,  and  a  drink- 
ing stepfather.  I  was  sent  to  a  house  of  refuge 
at  seven.  I  ran  away  when  I  was  twelve  and 
a  half  years  old.  I  was  hungry  and  stole.  I  was 
arrested  and  sent  to  a  reformatory  until  I  was 
twenty-one.  The  influence  was  not  beneficial. 
I  have  served  five  terms  in  prison.  All  reforma- 
tories for  boys  are  schools  of  degeneracy,  vice 
and  crime  at  present,  and  the  worst  boy  outside 
will  reach  a  lower  depth  when  sent  to  one.  No 
boy  under  age  should  be  sent  to  prison  for  a  first 
offense  against  property." 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  197 

Russian,  twenty-seven:  "I  was  well  educated. 
I  was  arrested  at  twenty-two  for  a  crime  I  did 
not  commit.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  where 
I  just  learned  about  crime.  I  couldn't  get  any 
work  after  being  released.  I  met  a  number  of 
acquaintances  that  I  knew  in  E.  and  a  life  of 
crime  commenced.  Work  when  released  from 
prison  would  have  helped  me  to  live  honestly." 

American,  thirty-one :  "I  had  a  drinking  fa- 
ther, and  little  schooling.  At  sixteen  I  was  ar- 
rested for  burglary  with  some  bad  companions. 
I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  two  years.  The 
influence  was  bad.  Kindness  is  a  boy's  best 
teacher  and  a  reformatory  his  worst." 

American,  twenty-one :  "I  am  a  high-school 
graduate.  I  was  arrested  for  burglary  caused 
by  drink  and  bad  company.  I  was  sent  to  a 
reformatory.  If  I  had  never  been  sent  to  a  re- 
formatory I  would  not  be  doing  time  to-day. 
There  are  not  five  men  out  of  a  hundred  that 
are  sent  to  a  reformatory  but  what  return  to 
prison." 

American,  twenty:  'T  was  arrested  at  nine  for 
assault.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  eighteen 
months.  If  it  were  not  for  the  reformatory  I 
would  not  be  in  prison  now.  Judge  Ben  B.  Lind- 
sey  has  found  the  only  way  to  reform  criminals." 

American,  twenty-five:  'T  think  there  is  a 
great  mistake  made  in  sending  young  boys  and 


198  iTHE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

girls  to  reformatories,  for  while  there  they  learn 
things  they  would  not  on  the  outside.  There- 
fore they  become  confirmed  criminals." 

German,  thirty-five:  "I  went  to  the  highest 
grade  in  school.  I  had  an  excellent  home  and 
good  parents.  At  twenty-one  I  took  what  was 
not  my  own  through  ignorance  of  the  law.  I 
was  arrested  and  sent  to  a  reformatory.  It  was 
my  undoing.  It  has  made  me  what  I  am.  I 
have  served  two  terms  in  Huntington.  My  life 
was  ruined." 

American,  thirty:  "My  parents  separated 
when  I  was  fourteen.  I  left  school  to  help  my 
mother.  At  nineteen  I  began  to  use  liquor.  I 
broke  into  a  store,  on  account  of  drink  and  bad 
company  and  being  discouraged  in  life.  I  was 
sent  to  a  reformatory  for  five  years.  I  tried  to 
live  right  when  I  was  released,  but  I  had  no 
money  and  no  friends  and  was  broken  in  health. 
If  I  had  not  been  sent  to  a  reformatory  and 
there  made  to  associate  with  bad  boys  and  learn 
their  various  methods  of  doing  bad  deeds  I  don't 
think  I  would  be  in  the  penitentiary  to-day." 

American,  forty:  "I  robbed  a  money  drawer 
when  twelve  years  old.  I  was  sent  to  Elmira  for 
two  and  a  half  years.  It  was  the  worst  place  I 
was  ever  in.  I  have  served  three  terms  in  prison. 
Prison  and  reformatory  will  reform  no  man.  He 
must  reform  himself." 

American,   thirty-three:    "At  sixteen  I    stole 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  199 

because  I  needed  money.  I  was  given  no  ad- 
vice or  even  a  chance,  but  was  sent  to  the  county- 
prison  for  one  year.  It  made  me  a  criminal. 
When  I  got  out  I  could  not  earn  wages  to  pay 
my  board.  Decent  wages  would  have  helped 
me  to  live  right." 

American,  thirty-one:  "I  had  a  good  educa- 
tion. I  was  guilty  of  forgery  at  twenty-four. 
I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  two  years  and 
three  months.  It  was  association  with  good 
people  that  might  have  reformed  me,  not  con- 
tact with  those  of  loose  morals.  I  tried  to  live 
right  when  I  got  out  but  adverse  criticism  made 
it  hard.  I  need  real  friendship.  My  only  reason 
for  not  ignoring  this  is  because  Judge  Lindsey's 
name  tells  me  this  may  help.  May  good  for- 
tune go  with  the  cause." 

American,  thirty-two:  "My  mother  died  when 
I  was  small.  I  began  work  when  eleven.  I 
never  attended  church  or  Sunday-school  or 
learned  the  Lord's  Prayer  or  the  Ten  Command- 
ments. I  was  arrested  at  thirteen  for  fighting 
because  of  an  insult  to  my  sister.  I  was  sent 
to  prison  for  nine  months.  I  was  then  put  on 
my  downward  path.  All  my  friends  were  against 
me  and  I  was  forsaken  by  all.  I  have  traveled 
considerably  and  among  all  I  met  ninety  per 
cent,  were  graduates  from  different  reforma- 
tories and  all  influenced  me  to  steal.  I  think  it 
is  there  where  professional  thieves  come  from. 


200  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

If  some  remedy  were  found  to  do  away  with 
these  colleges  of  crime  I  think  the  rising  gen- 
eration would  be  useful  men  and  women," 

American,  thirty-five:  "I  was  an  orphan  at 
thirteen.  I  was  sent  to  a  house  of  refuge  at  ten 
years  of  age.  I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  at 
sixteen  years  of  age.  I  mixed  with  all  kinds  of 
men  and  learned  many  bad  things  that  I  had  not 
known  of.  Reformatories  are  the  starting-point 
of  a  criminal's  life.  Ninety  out  of  every  hun- 
dred past  inmates  in  reformatories  are  in  the 
penitentiary  to-day.  You  can  go  through  a  pen- 
itentiary and  ask  the  boys  there.  They  will  tell 
you  that  the  reformatory  is  the  starting-point 
for  a  convict.  I  have  served  five  terms  in  pris- 
on." 

American,  twenty-eight:  "I  attended  school 
until  fifteen,  I  was  arrested  on  suspicion  at 
eighteen.  From  then  on  I  was  classed  as  a  crim- 
inal. I  was  sent  to  a  reformatory  for  thirty-eight 
months.  The  influence  was  degrading.  I  tried 
to  live  within  the  law  after  my  release  but  it 
seemed  that  I  was  disliked  by  every  one  after 
my  first  ofTense." 

Canadian,  fifty-seven :  'T  am  serving  my  first 
term  in  prison  for  an  assault  caused  by  a  dis- 
pute. Since  I  came  to  prison  I  have  come  in 
contact  with  a  number  of  young  men  and  I  find 
that  ninety  per  cent,  of  them  are  from  some 
reformatory  and  all  are  crooks." 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  201 

American,  twenty:  "The  reformatory  inmates 
of  the  present  are  the  criminals  of  the  future. 
Commitment  to  reformatories  for  misdemeanors 
and  shght  offenses  is  entirely  wrong." 

American,  twenty-four:  "I  lost  my  mother 
at  an  early  age  and  had  a  careless  father.  I  left 
school  at  eleven.  I  was  a  newsboy,  bootblack 
and  messenger  boy.  I  stole  at  fourteen  and  was 
sent  to  a  reformatory  until  I  should  be  twenty- 
one.  The  influence  on  me  was  not  good.  If  I 
had  had  some  good  person  to  advise  me  and  to 
help  me  out  of  bad  company  I  do  not  think  I 
would  be  in  prison  to-day  for  my  second  term." 

American,  twenty-three :  'T  had  a  drinking 
father,  and  a  stepmother.  I  attended  high 
school.  At  eight  years  of  age  I  was  sent  to  a 
reform  school  for  petty  larceny.  I  was  there 
twice — four  years  and  nine  months  in  all.  The 
influence  was  absolutely  not  helpful.  To  have 
received  good  advice  and  to  have  had  good  as- 
sociates would  have  helped  me  to  live  right." 

American,  thirty-one:  "I  lost  my  mother  at 
seven.  A  stepmother  made  home  unpleasant. 
To  have  kept  my  mother  until  I  was  grown 
would  have  helped  me  most  to  live  an  honest 
life.  At  eleven  years  of  age  I  was  arrested  for 
stealing  and  was  beaten  for  it.  Later  I  was 
sent  to  a  reformatory  where  the  influence  was 
the  worst  in  the  world.  Ill  treatment  at  home 
and  the  constant  reminders  of  what  you  are, 


202  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

after  you  have  been  in  prison,  take  all  the  good 
from  a  man.  If  more  were  trusted  more  would 
reform." 

American,  twenty-seven :  "My  mother  died 
when  I  was  six  months  old.  A  stepmother  made 
home  unpleasant.  I  had  little  schooling.  My 
stepmother  was  the  cause  of  my  troubles.  I  was 
put  in  a  children's  home.  I  used  cigarettes  and 
liquor.  I  was  sent  to  a  reform  school  between 
eight  and  nine.  I  was  there  ten  years.  It  taught 
me  to  be  a  crook.  A  good  kind  word  would 
have  helped  me." 

American,  twenty-seven:  ''From  what  I  can 
see  all  around  me  I  should  say  that  a  reforma- 
tory makes  first  ofTenders  professional  criminals, 
and  penitentiaries  make  anarchists  or  cause  them 
to  seek  revenge.  Kind  treatment  will  tame  an 
animal.  Kindness  will  make  a  good  man  out 
of  a  bad  one,  but  the  treatment  he  now  gets  will 
make  a  brute  out  of  him." 

American,  seventeen:  "I  had  little  schooling. 
I  spent  my  evenings  on  street  corners  and  in 
pool-rooms.  My  father  would  not  support  the 
family.  I  was  a  messenger  boy.  At  nine  years 
of  age  I  was  arrested  for  stealing.  I  was  sent 
to  a  reformatory  for  eighteen  months.  The  in- 
fluence was  harmful.  I  am  in  prison  now  for 
the  second  time." 

Scotch,  forty:  "My  first  offense  against  the 
law  was  getting  drunk  at  eighteen.     I  was  sent 


REFORM  SCHOOLS  203 

to  a  reformatory  for  eighteen  months.  I  do  not 
consider  the  reformatory  beneficial.  I  think  it 
makes  more  thieves  than  it  helps.  I  also  think 
that  first  offenders  should  not  be  allowed  to 
mingle  with  hardened  criminals  in  jail.  When 
I  got  out  of  the  reform  school  I  tried  to  live  right 
but  officers  of  the  law  bothered  me  all  the  time. 
I  have  served  two  terms  in  prison." 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  PLACE  AND  WORK  OF  THE  JUVENILE  COURT 

THE  first  juvenile  court  established  by  legis- 
lative enactment  was  opened  in  Chicago  in 
April,  1899.  The  second  one  was  opened  in 
Philadelphia  in  June,  1901.  Before  this  time 
whatever  effort  was  made  to  separate  children 
from  adult  criminals  was  purely  voluntary  on 
the  part  of  individual  judges. 

Massachusetts  had  used  probation  by  legisla- 
tive enactment  for  many  years,  but  it  was  rarely 
extended  to  children,  and  the  fact  that  there 
were  but  two  or  three  probation  officers  in  Bos- 
ton for  all  adults  and  children  made  the  system 
one  of  parole  rather  than  probation,  which  for 
children  is  rarely  effective. 

Chicago's  Juvenile  Court. — In  Chicago,  how- 
ever, a  small  group  of  men  and  women  had  be- 
come deeply  interested  in  devising  a  system 
which  would  remove  children  from  the  influ- 
ences and  associations  of  the  prison  and  the 
criminal  court  and  which  would  insure  for  each 
child  individual,  careful  consideration.  As  a  re- 
sult of  this  Judge  Harvey  B.  Hurd,  an  able  law- 

204 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  205 

yer,  a  wise  statesman  and  a  fathef  and  grand- 
father, in  1899  drafted  the  now  famous  Juvenile 
Court  Acts  of  Illinois.  Judge  Hurd  gave  the 
ripe  experience  of  a  remarkable  life  to  planning 
this  system  of  dealing  with  children.  Familiar 
as  he  was  with  the  courts  and  the  children  who 
came  into  them,  he  felt  that  the  then  existing 
method  of  procedure  made  criminals.  To  make 
conditions  better  for  the  children  before  he  died 
was  his  earnest  wish,  and  in  his  enthusiasm  he 
gave  days  and  weeks  of  his  time  to  explaining 
his  plan  and  the  way  in  which  he  wished  to  see 
it  carried  out.  Judge  Hurd  was  wonderfully 
adapted  for  making  an  adequate  system  for  the 
state  to  use  in  guarding  the  interests  of  child- 
hood. He  understood  children.  He  loved  them 
and  knew  them  as  few  men  do.  Children  and 
grandchildren  had  given  him  experience.  He 
also  was  acquainted  with  the  unfortunate  chil- 
dren who  were  caught  in  the  drag-net  of  the  po- 
lice system  and  day  after  day  were  imbibing  the 
poison  of  criminal  courts  and  prisons.  Thus  the 
combination  of  qualities  which  brought  into  be- 
ing this  method  of  caring  for  children  was  as 
rare  as  the  method  itself  has  proved  to  be  good. 
Juvenile  Court  Laws. — Two  years  after  the 
establishment  of  a  juvenile  court  in  Chicago, 
that  is,  in  1901,  juvenile  court  and  proba- 
tion laws  were  passed  in  Wisconsin,  Penn- 
sylvania   and    Kansas.      Philadelphia    had  the 


206  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

second  juvenile  court  In  the  United  States. 
In  1902  Maryland  got  the  system.  In  1903 
six    states    passed    acts    establishing     it.       In 

1904  it  was  adpoted  in  two  more   states.     In 

1905  juvenile  court  and  probation  laws  were 
passed  in  eight  other  states,  and  in  1906  two 
additional  ones  secured  this  legislation.  In  1907 
laws  modeled  after  those  in  use  here  were  passed 
in  England.  Canada  also  adopted  the  system  by 
parliamentary  enactment,  and  Sweden,  Norway, 
Germany,  Austria-Hungary,  France  and  Italy 
have  all  sent  their  representatives  to  America 
to  study  this  system,  and  as  rapidly  as  possible 
they  are  modeling  laws  after  those  in  use  here. 

The  conscience  of  the  people  has  been 
aroused.  Eyes  have  been  opened,  not  only  in 
America  but  in  Europe,  to  the  injustice  that  in 
the  past  has  been  done  to  helpless  erring  little 
ones,  and  the  leaven  of  enlightenment  is  work- 
ing in  the  establishment  of  new  and  efficient 
methods  of  caring  for  children.  The  considera- 
tion of  what  is  best  for  each  child  is  replacing 
the  old-fashioned  method  of  meting  out  punish- 
ment in  accordance  with  the  letter  of  a  criminal 
code  that  may  have  been  suitable  a  thousand 
years  ago  but  that  has  long  outlived  its  useful- 
ness to-day. 

The  juvenile  court  and  probation  system  has 
become  an  important  and  beneficent  feature  in 
the  development  of  more  efficient  methods  of 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  207 

treating  children  who  need  care  or  guidance. 
This  system  was  not  adopted  without  opposition. 
Cases  testing  its  constitutionality  have  been  car- 
ried to  the  Superior  Court  and  Supreme  Court 
in  Pennsylvania.  The  favorable  decisions  in 
these  cases  have  strengthened  the  system  every- 
where and  have  given  an  added  impetus  to  its 
adoption  in  other  states. 

The  Supreme  Court. — ^The  Supreme  Court  of 
Pennsylvania  put  itself  on  record  as  sustaining 
the  juvenile  court  and  as  considering  it  a  court 
for  protection  and  guardianship  and  in  no  sense 
a  criminal  court.  The  decision  states  that:  "As 
the  welfare  of  the  state  requires  that  children 
should  be  guarded  from  association  and  contact 
with  crime  and  criminals,  and  as  those  who  from 
want  of  proper  parental  care  or  guardianship 
may  become  liable  to  penalties  which  ought  not 
to  be  imposed  upon  them,  it  is  important  that 
the  powers  of  the  court  in  respect  to  the  care, 
treatment  and  control  of  dependent,  delinquent 
and  incorrigible  children  should  be  clearly  dis- 
tinguished from  those  exercised  by  it  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  criminal  law.  After  defining 
the  powers  of  the  court  the  act  proceeds  to  di- 
rect how  they  are  to  be  exercised  in  giving 
eflfect  to  its  purpose,  etc. 

"It  is  not  for  the  punishment  of  offenders,  but 
for  the  salvation  of  children,  and  points  out  the 
way  by  which  the  state  undertakes  to  save,  not 


208  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

particular  children  of  a  special  class,  but  all  chil- 
dren under  a  certain  age,  whose  salvation  may 
become  the  duty  of  the  state  in  the  absence  of 
proper  parental  care  or  disregard  of  it  by  way- 
ward children.  No  child  under  the  age  of  six- 
teen years  is  excluded  from  its  beneficial  provi- 
sions. Its  protecting  arm  is  for  all  who  have 
not  attained  that  age  and  who  may  need  its  pro- 
tection. It  is  for  all  children  of  the  same  class. 
That  minors  may  be  classified  for  their  best  in- 
terests and  the  public  welfare  has  never  been 
questioned  in  the  legislation  relating  to  them. 

*'To  save  a  child  from  becoming  a  criminal  or 
from  continuing  in  a  career  of  crime  to  end  in 
maturer  years  in  public  punishment  and  dis- 
grace, the  legislature  surely  may  provide  for  the 
salvation  of  such  a  child  if  its  parents  or  guard- 
ians be  unwilling  or  unable  to  do  so,  by  bring- 
ing it  into  one  of  the  courts  of  the  state  without 
any  process  at  all,  for  the  purpose  of  subjecting 
it  to  the  state's  guardianship  and  protection. 
The  natural  parent  needs  no  process  temporarily 
to  deprive  his  child  of  its  liberty  by  confining  it 
in  his  own  home  to  save  it  and  shield  it  from  the 
consequences  of  persistence  in  a  career  of  way- 
wardness, nor  is  the  state,  when  compelled,  as 
parens  patriae,  to  take  the  place  of  the  father 
for  the  same  purpose,  required  to  adopt  any 
process  as  a  means  of  placing  its  hands  upon  the 
child  to  lead  it  into  one  of  its  courts. 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  209 

"When  the  child  gets  there  and  the  court,  with 
the  power  to  save  it,  determines  on  its  salvation 
and  not  its  punishment,  it  is  immaterial  how  it 
got  there.  The  act  simply  provides  how  children 
who  ought  to  be  saved  may  reach  the  court  to 
be  saved.  If  experience  should  show  that  there 
ought  to  be  other  ways  for  it  to  get  there,  the 
legislature  can,  and  undoubtedly  will,  adopt 
them,  and  they  will  never  be  regarded  as  undue 
processes  for  depriving  a  child  of  its  liberty  or 
property  as  a  penalty  for  crime  committed.  As 
already  stated,  the  act  is  not  for  the  trial  of  a 
child  charged  with  crime,  but  is  mercifully  to 
save  it  from  such  an  ordeal,  with  prison  or  peni- 
tentiary in  its  wake,  if  the  child's  own  good  and 
the  best  interests  of  the  state  justify  such  salva- 
tion. Whether  the  child  deserves  to  be  saved  by 
the  state  is  no  more  a  question  for  a  jury  than 
whether  the  father  if  able  to  save  it  ought  to 
save  it.  If  the  latter  ought  to  save,  but  is  pow- 
erless to  do  so,  the  former,  by  the  act  of  1903, 
undertakes  the  duty,  and  the  legislature  in  di- 
recting how  that  duty  is  to  be  performed  in  a 
proper  case  denies  the  child  no  right  of  a  trial 
by  jury,  for  the  simple  reason  that,  by  the  act, 
it  is  not  to  be  tried  for  anything.  The  court 
passes  upon  nothing  but  the  propriety  of  an  ef- 
fort to  save  it;  and  if  a  worthy  subject  for  an 
effort  of  salvation,  that  effort  is  made  in  a  way 
directed  by  the  act.    The  act  is  but  an  exercise 


210  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

by  the  state  of  its  supreme  power  over  the  wel- 
fare of  its  children,  a  power  under  which  it  can 
take  a  child  from  its  father  and  let  it  go  where 
it  will  without  committing  it  to  any  guardian- 
ship or  any  institution  if  the  welfare  of  the  child, 
taking  its  age  into  consideration,  can  be  thus 
promoted.  The  true  rule  is :  'That  the  courts 
are  to  judge  upon  the  circumstances  of  the  par- 
ticular case;  and  to  give  their  directions  accord- 
ingly.' 

"There  is  no  restraint  upon  the  natural  lib- 
erty of  children  contemplated  by  such  a  law, 
none  whatever;  but  rather  the  placing  of  them 
under  the  natural  restraint,  as  far  as  practicable, 
that  should  be  but  is  not  exercised  by  parental 
authority.  It  is  the  mere  conferring  upon  them 
that  protection  to  which  under  the  circumstances 
they  are  entitled  as  a  matter  of  right.  It  is  for 
their  welfare  and  that  of  the  community  at  large. 
The  design  is  not  punishment  nor  the  restrain- 
ment  of  imprisonment  any  more  than  is  the 
wholesome  restraint  which  a  parent  exercises 
over  his  child.  The  severity  in  either  case  must 
necessarily  be  tempered  to  meet  the  necessities 
of  the  particular  situation.  There  is  no  proba- 
bility, in  the  proper  administration  of  the  law, 
of  the  child's  liberty  being  unduly  invaded.  Ev- 
ery statute  which  is  designed  to  give  protection, 
care  and  training  to  children  as  a  needed  sub- 
stitute for  parental  authority  and  performance 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  211 

of  parental  duty  is  but  a  recognition  of  the  duty 
of  the  state  as  the  legitimate  guardian  and  pro- 
tector of  children  when  other  guardianship  fails. 
No  constitutional  right  is  violated,  but  one  of 
the  most  important  duties  which  organized  so- 
ciety owes  to  its  helpless  members  is  performed 
just  in  the  measure  that  the  law  is  framed  with 
wisdom  and  is  carefully  administered. 

"None  of  the  objections  urged  against  the  con- 
stitutionality of  the  act  can  prevail.  The  as- 
signments of  error  are,  therefore,  all  overruled 
and  the  order  of  the  Superior  Court  affirming 
the  commitment  below  is  affirmed." 

What,  then,  are  the  duties  of  the  juvenile 
court  and  what  should  it  do  for  the  children? 

The  Dependent  Child. — This  court  deals  with 
the  care,  treatment  and  control  of  dependent, 
neglected,  delinquent  and  incorrigible  children. 
What  is  its  duty  to  dependent  children?  No  one 
dreams  of  transferring  houses  or  land  from  one 
person  to  another  without  a  record,  and  these 
records  can  be  traced  back  to  the  first  settlement 
of  the  county  in  which  the  transference  takes 
place.  Children  are  much  more  important  than 
houses  or  land,  and  yet  they  can  be  transferred 
from  the  care  of  one  person  to  that  of  another 
without  any  record  or  report  of  the  matter  being 
made.  Any  agency,  whether  responsible  or  oth- 
erwise, can  put  children  where  it  pleases  and 
there  is  no  one  to  question  the  act.    Many  fam- 


213  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

ilies  have  been  separated  and  have  lost  sight 
of  each  other  on  account  of  this  carelessness. 
In  large  cities  the  appropriations  and  equip- 
ment for  this  work  are  inadequate,  and  thus  it  is 
impossible  to  find  proper  homes  for  dependent 
children  and  to  provide  the  supervision  neces- 
sary for  making  sure  that  the  homes  found  are 
satisfactory. 

Children  should  be  brought  into  court  on  the 
petition  of  any  citizen  who  knows  the  facts 
about  their  circumstances.  The  child's  parents 
should  be  obliged  to  explain  their  neglect  and 
the  state  should  exercise  its  authority  in  using 
whatever  means  are  necessary  for  giving  neg- 
lected children  a  fair  and  square  chance.  Pro- 
bation for  parents  is  necessary  in  such  cases. 

In  the  past  many  children  have  been  placed 
in  unsuitable  homes.  Justice  and  the  protection 
of  helpless  children  can  only  be  secured  by  hav- 
ing every  child  placed  in  a  home  with  the  ap- 
proval of  the  county  court  and  by  providing  for 
the  making  of  an  accurate  record  of  such  place- 
ment and  of  any  later  change.  Records  of  this 
kind  are  of  the  utmost  importance  and  the 
court's  approval  would  prevent  much  careless 
placing  of  children. 

The  Erring  Child.— The  delinquent  child  is 
one  who  commits  offenses  which  in  older  per- 
sons would  be  regarded  as  crimes.  The  court's 
duty  is  to  consider  in  each  case  what  will  best 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  213 

prevent  the  recurrence  of  the  offense,  and  as 
each  case  must  be  considered  on  its  individual 
merits  no  rules  can  be  made.  Common  sense, 
sympathy  and  insight  into  real  causes  are  the 
qualities  most  needed  for  success. 

Incorrigible  Children. — This  court  also  deals, 
with  so-called  incorrigible  children.  Many  of 
these  are  so  named  on  account  of  their  parents' 
desire  to  let  the  state  support  their  children. 
Many  are  the  children  of  careless  and  neglectful 
parents.  Wisdom  is  needed  in  dealing  with  such 
cases.  On  account  of  the  law  requiring  com- 
mitments to  be  made  only  through  the  juvenile 
court  no  child  can  now  be  sent  from  his  home 
and  made  an  expense  to  the  state  without  thor- 
ough investigation.  Due  consideration  is  now 
given  to  the  child's  side  of  the  case  as  well  as 
to  the  parents'. 

Truants. — Children  who  are  habitual  truants 
can  be  brought  into  juvenile  court  and  placed  on 
probation.  The  juvenile  court  in  each  county 
should  have  a  record  of  all  dependent  children 
and  where  they  are  placed,  of  neglected  children, 
of  delinquent  children,  of  incorrigible  children 
and  also  of  children  who  work. 

Juvenile  Court  Not  a  Criminal  Court  in  Penn- 
sylvania.— The  decision  rendered  by  the  Superior 
and  Supreme  Courts  of  Pennsylvania  in  sustain- 
ing the  constitutionality  of  the  Juvenile  Court 
Acts  is  of  the  utmost  importance  in  showing  that 


214  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

the  state  has  not  only  the  power  but  the  duty  of 
protecting  its  child  citizens.  In  its  clear  state- 
ment that  the  juvenile  court  is  not  a  criminal 
court,  but  a  court  for  the  protection  and  guard- 
ianship of  children  who  require  its  protection, 
this  decision  removes  the  stigma  attached  to  ap- 
pearance in  a  criminal  court.  In  the  juvenile 
court  the  child  who  steals,  the  truant,  the  run- 
away and  the  vagrant  child  are  considered  as 
children  needing  treatment.  It  is  more  impor- 
tant to  prevent  continuance  in  wrongdoing  than 
to  inflict  punishment  on  a  child.  It  is  necessary 
to  consider  children  individually  rather  than  in 
a  mass.  Punishment  blindly  inflicted  usually 
avails  nothing.  Before  juvenile  courts  and  pro- 
bation laws  were  passed  children  were  appear- 
ing in  every  criminal  court  and  were  present  in 
every  prison.  With  no  one  to  help  them,  no  one 
to  treat  them  differently  from  the  crime-hard- 
ened adult,  they  entered  the  mill  that  grinds  out 
criminals,  and  it  was  next  to  impossible  for  them 
ever  to  escape  the  meshes  which  entangle  those 
who  once  sin  against  the  laws.  The  child,  al- 
ready handicapped  in  many  cases  by  bad  influ- 
ences and  environment  as  well  as  by  trial  and 
imprisonment,  met  obstacles  to  the  living  of  a 
good  life  that  few  could  surmount.  Hardened 
and  embittered  against  society,  these  children's 
lives  were  turned  to  evil. 
The  juvenile  court  is  the  state's  guarantee  that 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  215 

every  child  shall  be  given  the  chance  to  become 
a  good  citizen.  Through  this  court  the  state  has 
the  authority  to  consider  and  provide  for  the 
child's  future  welfare  at  the  time  when  the  child 
is  unable  to  guide  his  own  life,  or  when  weak 
ignorant  parents  have  failed,  or  when  perhaps 
criminal  parents  are  guiding  him  into  crime,  or 
when  orphanage  and  poverty  or  neglect  have 
sent  him  adrift,  a  waif  with  no  one  to  whom  he 
is  responsible. 

A  Hospital  for  Treating  Moral  Disease. — The 
juvenile  court  is  a  hospital  for  the  treatment  of 
moral  disease.  The  probation  officers  are  the 
nurses.  The  recovery  of  the  patient  depends  in 
great  degree  on  the  accuracy  of  the  diagnosis 
in  each  case  and  on  the  treatment  it  receives. 
The  juvenile  court  has  been  the  means  of  re- 
vealing conditions  which  no  one  realized  so  long 
as  children's  cases  were  not  dealt  with  separately 
from  those  of  adults.  The  report  for  one  week 
in  a  large  city  shows  what  a  vast  work  lies  be- 
fore those  who  would  help  these  blameless  but 
erring  children.  During  this  week  there  were 
arrested  one  hundred  and  ninety-seven  children 
under  sixteen  years  of  age — seventy-four  for  lar- 
ceny, forty-five  for  being  runaways  and  forty  for 
incorrigibility.  Vagrancy,  assault  and  malicious 
mischief  were  the  causes  of  the  arrest  of  the 
others.  One  hundred  and  eighty-two  were  boys 
and  fifteen  were  girls.    Seventy-five  were  Amer- 


216  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

icans.  Twenty  were  between  eight  and  ten 
years  of  age,  sixty-three  were  between  ten  and 
thirteen  years  of  age  and  one  hundred  and  four- 
teen were  between  thirteen  and  sixteen  years  of 
age.  This  particular  week  was  under  the  aver- 
age in  the  number  of  arrests  made,  and  yet  it 
would  bring  the  number  of  juveniles  arrested  in 
a  year  to  over  ten  thousand  in  just  one  city  of 
America. 

These  are  the  children  who  are  standing  at 
the  parting  of  the  ways.  These  are  the  little 
ones  who  may  be  saved  if  they  meet  at  this  time 
a  loving  wise  friend  who  will  guide  them  and 
care  for  them.  Before  juvenile  courts  were  es- 
tablished such  children  were  either  neglected 
until  they  had  committed  a  more  serious  offense 
or  they  were  sent  off  to  reformatories.  There 
was  no  system  through  which  help  could  be 
given  at  the  very  first  downward  step. 

The  hospital  having  but  one  remedy  for  ev- 
ery disease  would  in  these  days  be  considered 
absurd.  The  juvenile  court  in  which  each  case 
is  not  studied  individually,  in  which  home  condi- 
tions and  other  conditions  and  motives  leading 
to  the  offense  are  not  studied  and  in  which  there 
are  not  a  variety  of  agencies  for  helping  chil- 
dren, may  be  compared  to  a  hospital  possessing 
a  single  remedy  for  all  diseases.  Such  a  condi- 
tion might  lead  to  the  cure  of  a  few,  but  it  would 
be  disastrous  for  the  majority.     This  has  been 


.THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  217 

the  case  with  the  methods  of  the  past.  This  is 
why  crime  has  increased,  and  this  is  why  our 
prisons  are  full.  The  wide-spread  idea  that  we 
must  accept  the  situation  and  that  crime  and 
prisons  are  a  necessity,  that  there  is  a  criminal 
class  made  of  different  clay  from  the  rest  of 
humanity,  has  kept  aloof  the  good  men  and 
women  without  whom  these  erring  brothers  and 
sisters  of  ours  will  never  be  saved. 

Probation  Work. — The  juvenile  court  that 
does  not  have  a  corps  of  probation  officers  who 
are  guided  by  a  loving  insight  into  child  nature 
and  who  also  have  the  ability  to  inspire  in  the 
child  true  standards  of  right  living  is  almost  use- 
less. It  is  like  a  hospital  without  any  nurses; 
and  every  one  knows  that  in  illness  good  nurs- 
ing is  more  important  than  medicine. 

A  Juvenile  Court. — The  success  of  a  juvenile 
court  depends  far  more  on  the  quality  of  its' 
probation  officers  than  on  its  judge.  While  the 
judge  has  the  opportunity  of  impressing  a  child 
the  few  moments  he  is  before  him,  real  success  in 
character  building  comes  only  in  the  old  way. 
The  reiteration  of  line  upon  line  and  precept 
upon  precept  is  necessary  and  over  it  all  must 
brood  the  spirit  of  love,  without  which  no  child 
can  be  helped.  Probation  work  consists  of 
character  building,  nothing  more,  nothing  less. 
It  is  joining  hands  with  God  to  lead  His  little 
ones  to  His  fold. 


218  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

The  duty  of  a  probation  officer  is  not  only  to 
the  child.  It  extends  to  helping  parents.  Good 
housekeeping,  the  qualities  of  a  good  home  and 
the  principles  of  child  nurture  must  be  under- 
stood by  a  good  probation  officer.  Often  ignor- 
ance of  these  things  is  the  cause  of  a  child's  get- 
ting into  trouble.  No  better  foundation  for  pro- 
bation work  can  be  given  than  kindergarten 
training  of  a  kind  that  brings  into  the  fore- 
ground the  study  of  a  child's  needs  and  devel- 
opment. The  essential  equipment  for  all  w^ho 
have  the  care  of  children  is  a  know^ledge  of  child 
nurture  and  a  love  of  children.  There  are  some 
individuals  whose  faith  in  human  nature  brings 
out  the  best  in  those  whom  they  have  under 
their  care.  They  have  sympathetic  hearts  and 
spirits  consecrated  to  the  service  of  uplifting 
childhood.  The  more  difficult  the  case  the 
greater  is  their  interest  in  it.  Patience,  love, 
common  sense,  dignity  and  experience  of  life 
are  essential  to  one  who  is  to  guide  children 
and  parents.  No  children  are  hopeless.  Some- 
where in  the  heart  of  each  one  is  concealed  a 
germ  of  goodness  which  may  be  quickened  and 
grow  to  eternity,  but  which  is  often  crushed  by 
those  who  do  not  understand  the  delicate,  sensi- 
tive nature  of  a  little  child.  The  juvenile  court 
gives  an  opportunity  never  before  afforded  to 
study  the  needs  of  children.    Under  the  old  sys- 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  219 

tern  no  separate  account  was  taken  of  juvenile 
crime.  It  was  but  part  of  the  criminal  record 
which  included  all  of  every  age  who  violated  our 
laws.  The  sole  duty  of  the  court  was  to  carry  out 
the  letter  of  the  law  by  way  of  punishment. 

Experience  in  thousands  of  cases  in  juvenile 
court  and  probation  work  has  proved  to  the 
writer  that  in  nearly  all  cases  the  children's 
presence  in  court  is  due  to  conditions  over  which 
they  have  no  control.  These  conditions  have 
been  brought  into  being  by  the  community  in 
which  the  children  live.  They  can  be  changed, 
and  they  will  be  as  a  result  of  the  new  light  that 
has  come  to  those  who  all  over  this  country  are 
coming  in  touch  with  the  beginnings  of  crime. 

The  Next  Step  Forward. — Fourteen  years 
have  passed  since  the  first  juvenile  court  was 
held.  To  secure  a  law  providing  for  a  juvenile 
court  system  is  but  the  first  step  toward  the  end 
and  aim  of  those  who  designed  this  agency  for 
child  protection.  There  is  no  magic  power  in 
the  law  unless  it  is  administered  by  those  who 
are  qualified  through  a  sympathetic  knowledge 
of  child  nature  to  understand  how  to  help  those 
who  come  into  the  courts.  An  experience  of 
fourteen  years  has  shown  that  it  is  very  difficult 
for  those  who  hold  to  the  old  idea  of  court  pro- 
cedure to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  condi- 
tions.    Such  people  seemingly  can  not  realize 


220  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

that  children  require  utterly  different  treatment 
from  that  usually  accorded  offenders  against  the 
law. 

A  Juvenile  Court  Judge. — In  an  ordinary 
criminal  court  a  judge  must  have  a  knowledge 
of  law,  of  the  penal  code  and  the  punishments 
provided  for  various  offenses,  and  probity  in  ad- 
ministration. In  juvenile  cases  other  qualities 
are  essential  in  a  judge.  Insight,  sympathy  with 
children,  ability  to  appreciate  causes  and  knowl- 
edge of  efficient  treatment  for  preventing  the 
recurrence  of  offenses  are  all  required.  The 
problem  a  juvenile  court  faces  is  one  of  moral 
education,  of  home  education  for  parents  and  of 
social  education  for  child  protection.  It  is  ad- 
mitted that  the  child  in  juvenile  court  has  broken 
the  law  in  some  respect,  but  because  he  is  a  child 
he  is  not  held  as  a  responsible  citizen  should  be 
held  for  knowingly  offending  against  the  law. 

Notable  men  have  made  records  as  juvenile 
court  judges  which  have  attracted  world-wide 
attention,  but  they  are  the  exceptions.  The 
average  judge  meets  the  responsibility  placed  on 
him  as  conscientiously  as  he  can,  but  with  the 
best  intentions  he  commits  woeful  errors  at 
times  which  bring  disaster  to  the  child.  Such 
judges  are  being  required  to  do  a  kind  of  service 
for  which  they  lack  the  fundamental  qualifica- 
tions. A  new  standard  for  the  children's  judi- 
ciary must  be  set,  especially  in  our  large  cities. 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  221 

where  the  large  number  of  cases  Is  sufficient  to 
warrant  the  appointment  of  an  individual  who 
can  give  this  his  exclusive  attention. 

Rural  Districts. — Every  county  should  have 
definite  arrangements  for  the  separate  hearing 
of  children's  cases,  but  as  such  cases  are  com- 
paratively few  in  number  the  same  judge  who 
hears  other  county  cases  must  be  required  to 
take  this  responsibility  also.  To  work  out  plans 
for  the  efificient  care  of  every  child  under  the 
conditions  which  must  be  met  in  the  average 
county  is  of  as  vital  moment  as  to  perfect  juve- 
nile court  administration  in  large  cities. 

The  child  in  the  country,  the  village  or  the 
small  town  deserves  just  as  efficient  help  in  be- 
ing led  from  entering  a  criminal  career  as  does 
the  child  in  a  large  city.  If  crime  is  to  decrease 
it  can  only  be  through  not  letting  any  child  miss 
receiving  the  help  which  he  needs  at  the  time 
when  it  will  affect  his  whole  future.  "Only  a 
poor,  ragged,  unattractive  waif,  an  infant  dere- 
lict, the  riffraff  of  humanity,  a  gutter  snipe,"  say 
many  men  of  these  little  ones.  "Corral  them 
and  protect  the  world  from  their  ravages."  No 
one  who  has  this  view-point  can  ever  properly 
administer  a  juvenile  court.  Only  one  who  be- 
lieves that  each  child  is  one  of  God's  little  ones, 
that  however  unattractive  the  exterior  may  be 
the  germ  of  good  is  there,  can  ever  meet  the 
responsibility  of  a  juvenile  court. 


222  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Each  child  is  an  individual,  not  a  case.  When 
personal  interest  in  each  child  ceases,  when  he 
simply  becomes  a  case,  the  usefulness  of  the  ju- 
venile court  also  ceases. 

The  next  steps  forward  which  are  necssary  in 
juvenile  court  and  probation  work  may  be  out- 
lined as  follows : 

I.  The  system  should  be  extended  so  that 
every  county  may  be  equipped  for  efficiently 
and  promptly  guarding  and  providing  guidance 
for  its  erring  and  dependent  children. 

n.  The  court  should  be  placed  on  an  educa- 
tional basis  instead  of  being  regarded  as  an  in- 
strument of  correction  or  charity.  Mothers  as 
well  as  fathers  should  have  a  voice  in  the  care 
of  the  children  under  its  jurisdiction,  for  good 
mothering  as  well  as  fathering  is  the  greatest 
need  of  most  of  these  children.  Wise  mothers 
must  take  their  part  if  crime  in  children  is  to  be 
prevented. 

HI.  It  should  be  insisted  that  probation  work 
be  done  only  by  those  who  have  ability  and  love 
and  patience  in  character  building  and  in  teach- 
ing home  making  to  parents.  The  service  of 
kindergarten  teachers  and  good  mothers  as  pro- 
bation officers  should  be  enlisted  wherever  pos- 
sible, as  they  are  qualified  to  bring  out  and  de- 
velop the  better  nature  of  the  child. 

IV,  A  high  standard  of  service  should  be  in- 
sisted on  in  probation  work.    Constructive  meth- 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT.  223 

ods  should  be  used  in  teaching  honesty,  self-con- 
trol and  obedience  to  law,  and  to  this  end  there 
should  be  provision  for  the  special  training  of 
probation  officers  and  other  workers  with  chil- 
dren in  the  science  of  child  nurture. 

V.  Provision  should  be  made  for  the  organiza- 
tion of  county  juvenile  court  associations  com- 
posed of  fathers,  mothers  and  teachers.  These 
should  cooperate  with  the  courts  in  the  care 
of  children  and  in  improving  the  methods  of 
dealing  with  them  through  enlisting  the  aid  of 
every  local  agency  that  will  be  helpful.  The 
court's  function  is  primarily  judicial,  and  courts 
must  have  supplementary  help  in  the  care  of 
children  and  in  character  building. 

VI.  A  state  probation  commission  should  be 
provided  for  unifying  and  standardizing  the 
work  being  done  for  children  through  the  entire 
state.  This  should  be  done  because,  since  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  juvenile  court  extends  to  all 
neglected,  dependent  and  delinquent  children, 
the  responsibility  for  the  treatment  of  all  of  these 
now  rests  on  the  state.  In  consequence  there 
should  be  a  central  official  body  to  which  county 
work  should  be  reported  and  which  should  have 
supervision  over  all  such  work. 

VII.  The  state  probation  commission  should 
be  linked  with  the  state  board  of  education  by 
making  the  president  of  the  latter  or  his  repre- 
sentative an  ex-officio  member  of  the  commis- 


224  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

sion.  The  reasons  for  this  are  (1)  that  every 
child  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court  is  also 
subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  educational  laws 
of  the  state  and  intelligent  administration  re- 
quires the  cooperation  of  all  educators;  and  (2) 
that  the  care  of  wayward  children  is  an  exten- 
sion of  the  educational  system  and  must  eventu- 
ally be  assumed  by  it. 

Vni.  Accommodations  separate  from  jails, 
either  rooms  or  a  building,  should  be  provided 
for  children  awaiting  a  hearing.  The  manage- 
ment of  these  should  be  put  under  a  county  pro- 
bation association  and  probation  officers.  The 
importance  of  having  one  administration  over 
the  children  coming  into  court  and  the  value 
of  having  the  probation  officer  come  first  in 
touch  with  the  arrested  child  make  this  course 
advisable.  A  place  for  studying  the  child  is  also 
thus  afforded,  and  this  opportunity  is  a  valuable 
one  for  the  probation  officer  who  will  afterward 
have  the  care  of  the  child. 

IX.  Special  small  classes  for  erring  children 
as  part  of  the  educational  system  of  the  state 
should  be  substituted  for  the  present  system  of 
large  reform  schools  which  are  independent  of 
the  school  system.  The  moral  education  of  the 
wayward  child  should  be  a  part  of  the  educa- 
tional work  of  the  state  and  it  can  be  more  effi- 
ciently handled  if  it  is  made  a  recognized  part 
of  that  system.     The  grouping  of  hundreds  of 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  225 

wayward  children  together  has  been  productive 
of  moral  contamination  and  in  hundreds  of  in- 
stances has  resulted  in  the  confirmation  of  evil 
habits. 

X.  There  should  be  state  supervision  over  de- 
pendent children  and  records  should  be  kept  of 
the  homes  given  them.  There  should  be  a  law 
permitting  the  juvenile  court  to  order  the  pay- 
ment of  children's  board  in  family  homes  just 
as  it  may  now  order  such  payment  in  institu- 
tions. There  should  be  enacted  mothers'  pen- 
sion laws  to  prevent  the  breaking  up  of  homes 
through  the  death  of  a  father  or  extreme  pov- 
erty. These  pensions  should  not  be  administered 
by  a  department  of  charities. 

Thorough  knowledge  of  the  present  situation 
and  persistent,  faithful  work  in  building  up  a 
system  efficient  in  its  methods  of  protecting  and 
guiding  unfortunate  childhood  should  be  the 
unending  purpose  of  the  real  friends  of  chil- 
dren. Wayward  and  erring  children  can  never 
be  efficiently  cared  for  until  the  responsibility 
for  them  is  placed  under  educational  direction 
in  every  state. 

Juvenile  courts  and  the  probation  system  must 
eventually  come  under  educational  auspices  be- 
cause this  work  is  confined  to  children  under 
sixteen,  because  probation  work  is  educational 
work,  because  insight  into  child  nature  is  essen- 
tial in  deciding  how  a  child  may  be  helped  and 


226  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

because  the  children  under  juvenile  court  juris- 
diction are  also  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  edu- 
cational system.  A  single  system  under  a  sin- 
gle administration  can  best  deal  with  all  the 
questions  of  childhood. 

The  practise  of  arresting  children  should  be 
abolished.  Erring  children  should  be  reported 
to  a  committee  selected  from  the  best  fathers, 
mothers  and  teachers  in  the  community,  and  this 
committee  should  be  made  a  part  of  the  educa- 
tional system. 

By  placing  the  study  of  disease  in  the  care  of 
specialists  the  United  States  has  almost  elim- 
inated yellow  fever  and  the  hook-worm.  By 
placing  the  entire  system  of  child  guidance  and 
protection  in  the  hands  of  specialists  and  hold- 
ing them  responsible  for  its  thoroughness  and 
efficiency  the  United  States  will,  at  a  low  esti- 
mate, save  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  all  wayward 
children.  In  the  saving  of  these  wayward  little 
ones  lies  also  the  solution  of  the  problem  of 
crime  prevention. 

The  Requirements. — Besides  the  court  room 
in  a  juvenile  court  there  should  be  a  waiting 
room  for  the  children,  so  that  each  child  may  be 
heard  separately  and  quietly.  It  is  injurious  for 
children  to  listen  to  the  cases  that  come  before 
the  court.  The  judge  should  sit  as  a  chancellor, 
and  so  there  is  no  reason  for  a  jury,  nor  is  there 
any  reason  for  lawyers. 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  227 

Procedure. — The  procedure  should  be  simple. 
It  should  not  follow  the  plan  of  prosecution  in 
criminal  procedure.  There  should  be  no  plea  of 
guilty  or  not  guilty.  A  probation  officer  who 
has  made  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  child's 
history  should  give  the  facts  to  the  judge.  The 
child  should  be  permitted  to  tell  his  own  story. 
The  parents  also  should  be  heard  and  any  wit- 
nesses who  may  be  necessary.  The  judge  should 
explain  clearly  to  the  child  the  fault  he  has  com- 
mitted and  why  it  should  not  be  repeated.  He 
should  be  kind  and  yet  firm.  He  should  also 
advise  the  parents  as  to  their  duty  to  the  child, 
and  make  them  realize  that  the  state  is  inter- 
ested in  the  child's  welfare  and  for  that  reason 
gives  them  the  help  of  the  probation  officer's 
care. 

The  child's  own  home  is  the  first  choice  of  a 
place  for  the  child  unless  the  home  is  of  a  crim- 
inal character.  Every  child  should  have  an  op- 
portunity to  improve  under  the  moral  stimulus 
and  help  given  by  the  visits  and  interest  of  the 
probation  officer,  and  patient,  loving  care  should 
be  faithfully  given  for  months  or  years  if  nec- 
essary. Character  develops  slowly — too  much 
must  not  be  expected  in  a  short  time.  The  sec- 
ond choice  of  a  place,  if  the  child's  home  is  un- 
suitable, is  a  home  in  some  family,  and  the  care 
and  guidance  of  a  probation  officer  should  still 
be  given  the  child.     Reformatories  and  institu- 


228  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

tions  should  be  a  last  resort.  The  massing  to- 
gether of  naughty  children  necessarily  conduces 
to  a  greater  knowledge  of  crime,  puts  a  stigma 
on  the  child  and  decreases  his  self-respect. 

Temporary  Homes. — There  should  be  places 
where  a  difficult  child  could  temporarily  be  put 
among  adults  who  would  be  specially  adapted 
to  study  him,  and  if  he  is  beyond  parental  con- 
trol to  stimulate  and  help  him  until  he  can  re- 
turn to  it.  The  state  can  better  afford  to  pay 
for  care  that  will  separate  unmanageable  chil- 
dren than  it  can  to  mass  them  into  reformatories 
at  the  most  impressionable  period  of  their  lives. 

Boarding  Homes. — There  are  many  children 
who  are  homeless,  who  are  old  enough  to  work 
and  can  safely  do  so  and  be  self-supporting, 
but  who  should  be  placed  in  families  who  will 
guide  and  advise  them.  A  list  of  homes  where 
such  children  may  board  should  be  kept  in  ev- 
ery city. 

The  ideal  environment  for  a  child  is  a  fam- 
ily home.  Such  homes  can  be  secured  for  chil- 
dren under  a  wisely  managed  system  of  placing 
them  out  as  wards  of  the  state,  under  the  care 
and  guardianship  of  representatives  of  the  state. 
Institutions,  save  for  temporary  care,  are  injuri- 
ous to  children  physically  and  morally,  and  ex- 
cept for  emergency  use  their  day  is  past.  State 
boarding  schools  are  necessary  for  the  tempo- 
rary care  of  wards  of  the  state,  until  a  suitable 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  229. 

home  can  be  found  for  them  with  a  family,  but 
the  stay  there  should  be  as  brief  as  possible. 
Children  taken  from  a  very  bad  environment 
may  require  a  longer  period  in  such  a  school 
in  order  to  make  them  desirable  members  of  a 
family. 

Probation  Work. — Probation  ofificers  must 
possess  high  moral  purpose,  true  and  sincere 
character,  a  conception  of  the  psychological  de- 
velopment of  the  child  and  a  real  love  for  chil- 
dren. A  probation  officer  is  the  trained  moral 
nurse  of  the  child  and  to  obtain  the  best  re- 
sults must  view  the  work  from  the  spiritual 
standpoint.  Recognizing  that  character  is  a 
plant  of  slow  growth,  and  that  the  child's  eter- 
nal future  depends  largely  on  the  trend  given  in 
early  years,  the  probation  officer  must  work  pa- 
tiently, sympathetically  and  lovingly  to  bring 
out  the  best  that  is  in  the  child.  Maturity  and 
breadth  of  view  and  a  conception  of  child  nature 
and  its  needs  are  requisites  of  good  probation 
work.  The  officer  should  also  view  each  child 
as  a  distinct  individual.  These  qualities  can 
never  be  secured  when  officers  are  political  ap- 
pointees. It  should  be  remembered  also  that 
the  system  is  absolutely  dependent  for  its  suc- 
cess on  the  quality  of  the  probation  work. 

Training  Schools. — The  trained  nurse  in  the 
sick-room  has  won  recognition  and  is  a  neces- 
sity.   Her  intelligent  work  has  saved  thousands 


230  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

of  lives.  The  trained  gardener  can  develop  sim- 
ple flowers  until  they  possess  a  beauty  and  a 
perfection  that  no  untrained  care  can  secure. 
The  trained  father  and  mother  also  will  bring 
their  children  to  much  higher  standards  men- 
tally and  physically  than  is  possible  with  hap- 
hazard and  untrained  care.  The  trained  proba- 
tion officer,  having  also  the  necessary  character 
and  qualities  as  a  foundation,  will  more  efficient- 
ly meet  the  needs  of  children  and  more  cer- 
tainly guide  them  into  safe  and  honorable  paths 
than  the  best  intentioned  but  untrained  officer 
ever  could. 


COURT   SENTENCES WRITTEN   BY   PRISON   INMATES. 

American,  twenty-three :  "A  strong  will  power 
would  have  helped  me  to  be  honest.  If  I  was 
brought  before  a  judge  such  as  Judge  Lindsey 
I  might  not  have  been  a  thief  to-day.  I  only 
hope  that  Judge  Lindsey  meets  with  all  the  suc- 
cess in  the  world." 

Irish,  eighty-four:  "If  all  judges  were  like 
Judge  Lindsey  this  country  would  have  no  peni- 
tentiaries." 

American,  twenty-five:  "If  the  government 
really  wishes  to  reform  its  criminals  and  lessen 
crime  let  it  follow  Judge  Lindsey's  system.  Give 
the  beginners  a  fresh  start  and  the  results  will 
prove  satisfactory.    To  place  a  beginner  among 


THE  JUVENILE  COURT  231 

those  already  deep  in  crime  will  hurt  more  than 
anything  I  know." 

American,  twenty-two:  'T  was  left  an  orphan 
at  eleven.  I  was  sent  to  a  protectory  for  one 
year  as  an  orphan,  two  years  for  crime.  I  was 
alone  in  the  world  after  escaping.  Afterward 
I  was  sent  to  the  Elmira  Reformatory,  Brutal- 
ity never  has  any  influence.  The  secret  of 
achievement  is  to  get  child  offenders  before  they 
enter  any  home  or  reform  school.  One  kind- 
ness is  far  better  than  spending  a  thousand  years 
in  reformatories.  Had  I  met  a  man  like  Judge 
Lindsey  ten  years  ago  it  would  have  been  dif- 
ferent." 

American,  thirty-nine:  "I  had  a  good  early 
home  and  education.  I  committed  burglary  at 
thirty-six  because  I  had  no  work,  no  money  and 
had  to  keep  loved  ones  from  starving  and  freez- 
ing to  death.  I  was  sent  to  prison  for  from  six 
to  seven  years.  If  I  could  have  obtained  em- 
ployment I  never  would  have  been  where  I  am. 
What  the  country  needs  is  more  men  like  Judge 
Lindsey,  men  that  money  and  graft  can  not  buy, 
men  that  when  they  know  they  are  right  are 
not  afraid  to  follow  their  own  views  and  plans 
regardless  of  politics  and  threats  from  grafters, 
men  who  want  to  live  and  help  others  to  live. 
Until  then  we  need  not  look  for  any  change." 

American,  twenty-nine :  "My  parents  were 
divorced  when  I  was  three  years  old.    My  moth- 


232  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

er  died  when  I  was  ten.  My  sister  went  to  an 
orphan  asyhim  and  I  went  to  the  streets.  Bad 
companions  and  the  lack  of  home  influence  led 
me  to  purse-snatching  at  thirteen.  I  was  ar- 
rested and  treated  as  a  hardened  criminal.  No 
kindness  was  shown  me.  Having  been  forced  to 
associate  with  criminals  when  I  was  a  boy  I  nat- 
urally drifted  into  crime.  I  think  the  only  way 
to  save  a  boy  is  to  treat  him  as  a  boy,  not  as  a 
man.  If  the  judges  would  remember  that  a  boy 
is  only  a  boy  there  would  be  fewer  criminals." 

American,  twenty-six:  "Many  thanks  to  Judge 
Lindsey  for  the  good  he  is  doing  for  the  kids. 
I  wish  he  had  got  a  hold  on  me  when  I  was  a 
kid." 

"Give  the  world  legislators  and  judges  like 
Lindsey  so  men  will  have  a  chance  to  correct  a 
mistake  instead  of  being  immediately  thrown 
into  prison  to  ruin  a  life  and  home." 

"The  present  system  of  administering  laws  by 
judges,  except  Judge  Lindsey,  only  makes  crim- 
inals. Any  man  can  and  does  make  mistakes, 
and  if  given  a  small  chance  would  never  make 
the  same  one  or  a  similar  one  again.  Instead 
a  man  is  thrown  into  prison  for  a  long  term,  and 
so  a  criminal  is  created.  Convict  and  criminal 
are  distinct." 


CHAPTER    XIV 

PROBATION    THAT    WILL    SAVE    WAYWARD    CHILDREN 

THE  possibilities  for  the  proper  treatment  of 
wayward  children  were  greatly  increased 
when  in  1899  probation  work  was  introduced  as 
a  part  of  the  juvenile  court  system.  For  the 
first  time  a  thorough  investigation  of  the  facts 
was  made  by  a  reliable  person  before  the  court 
hearing  took  place,  thus  enabling  the  judge  to 
know  better  than  was  ever  possible  before  what 
to  recommend.  For  the  first  time  it  became  pos- 
sible to  return  a  child  to  his  home  with  provi- 
sion for  helping  him  and  his  parents  to  overcome 
the  causes  that  had  brought  him  into  trouble. 

Because  probation  work  has  been  connected 
with  the  courts  with  their  centuries  of  tradi- 
tions it  has  been  difficult  to  put  it  on  an  educa- 
tional basis,  without  which  it  can  not  be  thor- 
oughly helpful.  Tradition  and  custom  are  hard 
to  overcome,  and  those  who  are  experienced  in 
the  machinery  of  correction  and  punishment  are 
not  usually  conversant  with  the  needs  of  child 
life,  and  do  not  realize  that  the  qualifications  nec- 
essary in  probation  officers  are  entirely  different 

233 


234  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

from  those  needful  in  policemen  or  court  ofBcers. 
Because  of  the  selection  of  probation  officers 
who  are  not  prepared  to  inspire,  guide  and  help 
children  this  part  of  the  new  system  has  been 
very  weak  in  most  places.  Often  the  probation 
officer,  even  if  qualified  for  the  work,  could  not 
give  good  service  on  account  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  children  entrusted  to  his  or  her  care.  On 
account  of  the  failure  to  understand  and  recog- 
nize what  qualifications  are  absolutely  essential 
for  effective  probation  service  there  will  un- 
doubtedly be  a  reaction  against  the  probation 
system  in  those  places  where  this  work  has  been 
placed  in  unsuitable  hands. 

In  these  places  the  system  may  be  declared 
unsuccessful  when  the  real  trouble  lies  in  a  fail- 
ure to  understand  what  probation  work  is.  Pro- 
bation officers  should  be  selected  by  those  whose 
lives  have  been  devoted  to  child  nurture  and  who 
will  not  cripple  the  service  by  giving  office  to 
those  who  need  the  salary  but  who  lack  the 
qualities  that  will  save  the  children.  Helping 
the  children  precedes  in  importance  the  confer- 
ring of  a  salary  on  the  friend  of  a  political  leader 
or  on  some  one  who  has  influence. 

The  system  is  worse  than  useless,  is  farcical 
and  inspires  contempt  for  law  unless  probation 
is  kept  up  to  a  high  educational  standard. 

Qualifications  Essential  to  Good  Probation 
Work. — The  first  requisite  for  a  probation  offi- 


PROBATION  235 

cer  is  the  ability  to  inspire  love  in  a  child  and 
to  gain  his  confidence.  The  second  is  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  science  of  child  nurture  and  an  ap- 
preciation of  childhood's  needs.  These  things 
are  best  understood  to-day  by  kindergarten 
teachers,  good  mothers  and  some  school  teach- 
ers. The  third  requisite  for  this  work  is  patience 
and  love  for  the  work  so  great  that  no  effort  will 
be  spared  which  will  help  the  child. 

The  whole  duty  of  a  probation  officer  is  char- 
acter building.  It  is  educational  work  of  the 
most  exacting  and  highest  type.  It  is  a  religious 
work,  because  the  power  to  overcome  evil  comes 
from  God  alone  and  no  real  building  of  character 
can  be  done  without  the  foundation  of  depend- 
ence on  God's  help  in  keeping  the  laws  of  life. 
Probation  work  means  teaching  the  child  these 
laws  as  they  relate  to  the  incidents  of  his  daily 
life,  in  simple  language  that  he  can  understand. 
It  means  inspiring  him  with  ideals  of  the  man  or 
woman  he  or  she  would  like  to  be  and  helping 
him  to  form  the  habits  which  will  lead  to  that 
goal. 

No  one  can  do  work  of  this  kind  efficiently 
who  goes  into  it  primarily  for  the  salary  there  is 
in  it,  or  because  it  is  a  way  to  earn  one's  liveli- 
hood. 

No  one  can  do  successful  probation  work  who 
has  not  the  time  to  establish  close  personal  rela- 
tions with  each  child,  to  get  at  his  thoughts  and 


236  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

motives,  to  meet  him  on  the  plane  of  his  own 
life,  and  with  sympathetic  insight  into  his  diffi- 
culties guide  him  to  the  better  way.  This  means 
that  good  probation  work  can  not  be  done  when 
one  has  too  large  a  number  of  children  to  make 
it  possible  to  give  this  individual  attention  to 
each  child.  Frequent  visits  and  intimate  ac- 
quaintance are  required  to  influence  the  lives  of 
children. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  no  one  can  build 
character  in  others  who  has  not  first  begun  to 
build  it  in  his  or  her  own  life.  Probation  to  be 
successful  must  be  recognized  as  education  of 
the  moral  nature.  With  many  it  now  seems  to 
be  regarded  as  the  recommendation  of  some  in- 
stitution to  which  the  child  may  be  sent. 

The  test  of  good  probation  work  is  to  be  found 
in  whether  the  children  are  helped  to  better  lives 
in  their  own  homes ;  whether  they  cease  to  do  the 
things  which  brought  them  into  court,  whether 
in  the  year's  work  the  proportion  of  children  do- 
ing well  goes  over  seventy  per  cent. 

No  one  should  be  appointed  for  probation 
work  who  is  not  conscientious  and  consecrated  to 
service  to  the  children  and  with  sufficient  ex- 
perience in  life  to  command  the  respect  of  par- 
ents as  well  as  children.  Given  these  qualifica- 
tions for  officers  there  should  be  few  rules  and 
restrictions.  Each  individual  finds  his  or  her 
own  method  and  should  be  free  to  work  as  each 


PROBATION  237 

case  demands.  The  result  is  what  counts.  That 
can  only  be  measured  by  accurate  reports  of  each 
child,  covering  as  much  as  six  months  or  a  year, 
sometimes  even  longer. 

It  takes  time  to  overcome  the  habits  and  con- 
ditions that  have  led  the  child  into  trouble,  and 
a  probation  officer  should  not  expect  steady  ad- 
vancement. There  may  be  many  setbacks. 
Limiting  the  probation  of  children  to  one  month 
or  three  is  unjust  to  the  child  and  to  the  proba- 
tion officer.  If  the  work  is  to  be  w^ell  done  it 
must  be  done  from  the  heart.  It  ceases  to  be 
possible  to  do  v^hat  one  should  for  a  child  unless 
one  exercises  the  same  spirit  of  patience  that 
good  mothers  do  toward  their  own  children. 

Wherever  the  juvenile  court  and  probation 
system  has  been  adopted  the  probation  officer 
holds  the  key  which  may  open  the  door  to  better 
life  for  the  child.  Misunderstanding  of  child  na- 
ture or  neglect  may  close  to  him  the  door  of  op- 
portunity. Whether  or  not  wayward  children 
shall  be  saved  depends  on  the  quality  of  the  pro- 
bation service. 

Safeguarding  the  System. — While  the  major- 
ity of  states  have  provided  for  this  system  by 
law,  not  one  has  yet  safeguarded  it  at  its  weak- 
est point.  The  bridge  which  is  to  carry  the  chil- 
dren over  the  point  of  greatest  danger  in  their 
lives  must  be  safe  and  strong  or  the  system  is 
worse  than  useless.    The  qualifications  and  work 


238  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

of  probation  officers  must  be  specified  and  pro- 
vision must  be  made  for  the  automatic  removal 
of  officers  unless  the  work  reaches  a  certain  stan- 
dard. Ordinary  civil  service  examinations  are  of 
little  value  in  determining  w^hether  or  not  one 
will  be  efficient  in  work  of  this  kind.  The  experi- 
ence of  good  mothers  is  of  the  greatest  value  and 
when  available  they  should  be  enlisted  in  this 
service.  The  kindergarten  teacher  thoroughly 
trained  in  Froebel's  philosophy  has  a  foundation 
which  is  of  great  value.  The  school-teacher  who 
has  been  successful  in  guiding  the  children  under 
her  care  also  has  a  good  foundation  for  success 
in  probation  work. 

So  much  of  the  work  of  a  probation  officer  con-» 
sists  in  the  reconstruction  of  the  home  and  the 
education  of  parents  as  to  their  child's  needs  that 
women  are  especially  fitted  for  this  service.  They 
can  come  into  closer  relations  with  a  child's 
mother  than  is  possible  for  a  man.  Home  mak- 
ing is  primarily  women's  work  and  back  of  near- 
ly every  child's  trouble  lies  some  weakness  in  the 
home.  It  is  impossible  to  help  a  child  without 
taking  his  home  into  account.  Friendly  relations 
must  be  established  there.  As  a  trusted  physi- 
cian has  the  confidence  of  his  patients  so  must 
the  probation  officer  as  a  moral  physician  have 
the  same  confidence.  Personality  counts  for 
much  in  one  who  holds  such  a  position.     The 


PROBATION  239 

probation  officer  who  goes  into  a  family  armed 
with  the  statement  that  she  is  an  officer  of  the 
court  and  that  she  must  be  obeyed  has  taken  a 
tactless  course  which  will  never  enable  her  to 
establish  the  relations  necessary  if  she  is  to  be 
helpful  to  the  child  and  the  home. 

Training  in  Honesty. — At  least  half  the  chil- 
dren who  are  placed  on  probation  have  com- 
mitted theft  of  some  sort.  Constructive  training 
in  honesty  must  constitute  a  large  part  of  the 
work  of  a  probation  officer.  Restitution  should 
always  be  required.  If  it  can  only  be  made 
gradually  it  should  still  be  required,  for  no  lessen 
will  sink  deeper  than  this  practical  experience  of 
effort  in  restoring  what  has  been  taken.  The 
parents,  too,  should  be  made  to  see  that  justice 
demands  the  restoration  of  what  their  child  has 
taken. 

Items  like  the  following  cut  from  a  daily  paper 
show  the  extreme  youth  of  many  of  the  children 
who  are  brought  into  court.  They  are  almost 
babies  and  yet  they  seem  beyond  the  control  of 
both  their  parents  and  the  court. 

"Joseph  Guestis,  six  years  old,  was  held  under 
three  hundred  dollars'  bail  to-day  for  a  further 
hearing  by  the  magistrate,  at  the  House  of  De- 
tention, on  the  charge  of  larceny.  The  boy  had 
appeared  at  the  House  of  Detention  six  times 
before  on  similar  charges.     Yesterday,  it  is  as- 


240  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

serted,  he  broke  into  a  stall  in  the  market,  with 
a  false  key,  and  robbed  several  cash  registers. 
He  also  took  eye-glasses,  pencils  and  weights, 
it  is  said." 

In  nearly  all  cases  of  this  kind  investigation 
shows  that  the  child  has  been  used  by  older  boys 
or  men.  It  also  comes  out  usually  that  he  has 
had  no  definite  teaching  which  would  make  him 
regard  the  property  of  others.  In  many  cases 
he  has  never  possessed  anything  of  his  own  which 
others  have  respected.  He  has  committed  an  act 
which  if  done  by  an  adult  would  properly  be 
styled  burglary.  The  law,  however,  does  not  hold 
children  of  six  as  being  responsible  for  such  deeds. 

Dealing  with  Theft. — A  child  about  the  age 
of  the  one  just  mentioned  was  so  persistent  in 
his  appropriations  of  the  property  of  others  that 
parents  and  probation  officers  became  utterly 
discouraged  and  took  him  to  a  noted  kindergar- 
ten teacher  to  see  what  she  could  do  for  him.  In 
her  class  lessons  she  told  the  children  how  to  own 
things  without  having  them  in  their  hands.  She 
asked  them  to  look  at  beautiful  things,  then  shut 
their  eyes  and  think  how  they  looked.  They 
played  this  as  a  game,  learning  that  that  kind  of 
possession  was  something  no  one  could  take 
away.  She  had  a  place  for  each  child's  things 
and  taught  them  not  to  touch  the  belongings  of 
others  without  permission.    The  rule  of  d.oing  to 


PROBATION  241 

others  as  they  would  have  others  do  to  them  was 
the  key-note  of  all  her  lessons.  She  also  told  them 
stories  of  knights  and  their  noble  deeds. 

One  day  the  little  boy  came  to  her  with  a  hand- 
ful of  things  he  had  taken,  saying:  "I'm  not 
going  to  do  this  any  more.  Knights  don't  take 
things  and  I  know  how  to  have  things  without 
taking  them." 

Patiently  and  purposefully  this  kindergarten 
teacher  had  put  into  the  boy's  heart  a  different 
ideal  of  boyhood  and  manhood.  She  had  taken 
away  the  desire  to  steal.  A  piece  of  work  like 
this  is  typical  of  the  careful  constructive  work 
that  must  be  done  to  save  children.  What  she 
had  accomplished  was  inestimable  in  value  and 
efficacious  in  a  way  that  the  employment  of  fear 
can  never  be.  *'The  policeman  will  get  you" ; 
"You  will  go  to  prison";  "I  shall  send  you  to  a 
reform  school" — these  threats  have  often  been 
held  over  children  and  have  been  actually  carried 
out  with  fatal  consequences  to  them.  The  child 
or  man  who  refrains  from  stealing  only  for  fear 
of  the  law  has  not  advanced  very  far  toward  the 
achievement  of  character.  The  probation  officer 
who  gives  that  as  a  reason  for  doing  right  is  ap- 
pealing to  the  lowest  motive  of  a  child.  Only  the 
highest  motives  will  count  in  the  long  run,  only 
those  will  enable  the  child  or  man  to  resist  temp- 
tation all  through  life. 


242  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Parents'  and  Teachers'  Treatment  of  Dishon- 
esty.— Crime  against  property  is  the  one  that  is 
most  common  and  which  causes  most  anxiety  for 
parents  and  teachers.  They  should  not  feel  that 
a  child  is  abnormal  or  criminal  because  he  has 
taken  things.  They  should  not  have  him  arrested 
or  sent  to  a  reform  school.  They  should  patient- 
ly and  kindly  teach  the  child  what  honesty  is  and 
what  it  means  to  be  trusted  and  reliable.  They 
should  not  put  temptation  in  his  way  until  he  has 
become  stronger.  It  is  a  fault  which  requires 
careful  treatment,  and  parents  and  teachers  can 
best  give  it. 

There  will  be  less  stealing  by  boys  and  girls 
when  it  is  recognized  that  honesty  is  not  born 
into  children,  but  that  it  is  a  lesson  which  par- 
ents must  give  to  every  child.  The  wrong  act  it- 
self should  be  condemned,  but  the  child  should 
not  be  told  he  is  wicked  and  hopeless.  This  dis- 
tinction should  always  be  made,  for  it  makes  it 
easier  to  help  a  child  when  he  is  not  made  to  feel 
that  he  is  wicked.  To  show  that  one  expects 
better  things  of  him,  that  such  an  act  is  unworthy 
of  him,  will  be  much  more  effective  than  to  tell 
him  he  is  depraved  and  wicked.  A  child  who  gets 
that  idea  of  himself  loses  all  incentive  for  doing 
better  and  feels  that  he  might  as  well  live  up  to 
the  reputation  given  him.  Very  good  people 
often  make  this  mistake  in  dealing  with  children. 


PROBATION  243 

Hope  and  Encouragement. — A  little  ten-year- 
old  boy  was  brought  into  a  juvenile  court  one 
day  before  a  judge  who  seemed  to  take  the  whole 
thing  as  a  joke.  When  this  little  trembling  child 
came  before  him  he  glanced  at  him  and,  without 
deigning  to  question  him,  said:  "You  were  born 
a  thief,  you  have  always  been  a  thief,  you  always 
will  be  a  thief."  What  strength  of  character  a 
child  would  possess  who  could  rise  above  such  a 
statement  coming  from  one  so  far  above  him! 

Our  very  first  duty  to  children  is  to  give  them 
hope,  to  show  them  that  good  is  expected  of 
them,  that  though  they  have  done  wrong  they 
can  overcome  it. 

Immorality. — Immoral  conduct  is  another 
fault  with  which  probation  of^cers  must  often 
deal.  It  is  almost  inconceivable  that  children 
should  be  guilty  of  the  serious  charges  made 
against  them.  Here  also  the  real  causes  of 
wrongdoing  must  be  sought  out.  Often  it  is 
imitation  of  things  they  have  seen.  They  are  un- 
fortunate in  the  fact  that  life  has  given  them  les- 
sons so  undermining.  Again  there  is  necessary 
the  slow  process  of  giving  them  a  different  ideal, 
of  showing  what  is  right,  and  this  the  probation 
officer  must  do.  This  becomes  very  difficult 
where  the  parents  themselves  are  at  fault,  and  in 
such  cases  it  may  be  necessary  to  remove  the 
child  to  a  better  environment. 


244  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

Other  Offenses. — Arson,  assault  and  battery, 
truancy  and  murder  are  among  the  crimes  which 
are  attributed  to  children,  but  when  the  motives 
are  traced  it  is  often  found  that  the  child  had 
no  realization  of  the  gravity  of  his  offense.  And 
in  no  cases  do  children  have  an  adult's  sense  of 
responsibility.  Children  have  been  considered  al- 
most beyond  the  pale  and  in  some  way  abnormal 
who  have  been  guilty  of  these  grave  faults.  Ex- 
perience has  proved  that  this  is  rarely  the  fact. 
They  are  usually  normal  children.  It  is  entirely 
possible  to  help  them  and  to  prevent  the  recur- 
rence of  such  acts.  Again  it  is  constructive  work 
in  character  building  which  is  the  treatment 
needed. 

Nine-tenths  of  all  the  children  who  are  now 
given  the  benefit  of  probation  work  have  in  them 
the  possibility  of  becoming  honorable,  law-abid- 
ing citizens.  They  are  not  criminal  children  or 
incorrigible  children,  they  are  children  who  have 
committed  criminal  acts  and  need  wise  guidance. 
What  would  it  mean  to  America  to  save  these 
wayward  ones?  It  would  mean  simply  that  the 
supply  of  human  derelicts  to  fill  our  prisons 
would  be  cut  of¥  at  its  source.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion of  greater  importance  than  that  probation 
work  shall  have  the  same  standing  and  study 
that  the  work  of  the  physician  or  surgeon  now 
has. 

Efficient  probation  work   can  prevent   crime. 


PROBATION  245 

Appointing  men  or  women  for  this  vital,  sacred, 
far-reaching  work  on  account  of  political  reasons 
or  for  any  reason  other  than  fitness  to  save  chil- 
dren is  a  crime  against  childhood  and  a  fatal 
blow  to  a  system  which  requires  specialists  in 
child  nurture  in  order  to  make  it  efficient.  Love, 
faith  in  childhood's  possibilities,  patience  and 
tact,  combined  with  ability  to  inspire  children 
with  the  desire  to  do  right,  and  to  show  them 
what  is  right — these  must  be  the  qualifications 
for  entrance  into  this  service.  It  is  a  profession 
requiring  the  consecration  that  leads  a  man  to  go 
into  the  ministry  and  the  kind  of  character  that 
is  an  inspiration  to  others.  No  place  ofTers  op- 
portunity for  greater  service  to  childhood,  to  the 
state  and  to  God. 

The  probation  system  and  juvenile  courts 
came  into  existence  through  the  interest  of  men 
and  women  not  officially  connected  with  child 
saving  work,  but  whose  interest  in  children  led 
them  to  an  effort  to  improve  conditions  for 
them.  The  unofficial  interest  of  good  men  and 
women  is  no  less  needed  now  that  the  system  is 
established  than  it  was  before. 

The  Citizens'  Initiative. — Helping  wayward 
children  before  arrest  and  after  they  have  been 
placed  on  probation  is  a  larger  task  than  can  be 
done  well  without  the  cooperation  of  interested 
citizens.  Probation  officers  whose  whole  time  is 
given  to  probation  work  have  not  the  opportu- 


246  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

nity  to  give  children  many  of  the  openings  that 
come  through  the  help  of  citizens  organized  for 
cooperation.  Those  who  are  not  constantly 
meeting  the  problems  of  erring  children  come  to 
them  with  a  freshness  and  earnestness  that  are 
a  great  encouragement  to  those  who  have  many 
children  for  whom  they  are  responsible.  The 
business  man  knows  of  openings  for  work,  where 
interest  may  be  manifested  in  and  help  given  to 
the  child.  Representatives  of  the  different 
churches  help  the  children  in  many  ways.  A 
school  so  situated  as  to  be  away  from  influences 
that  have  proved  harmful  may  be  the  saving  of 
a  child.  Women  who  are  able  are  often  led  to 
pay  for  such  care  through  familiarity  with  actual 
cases.  Those  who  can  become  friendly  both  to 
child  and  mother  may  be  helpful.  Where  there 
is  a  representative  organization  specially  formed 
to  cooperate  in  saving  children  the  way  is  much 
easier. 

Personnel  of  Association. — A  juvenile  court 
and  probation  association  in  every  county,  recog- 
nized by  the  court  and  closely  in  touch  with  all 
its  work,  has  been  found  a  valuable  factor  in 
maintaining  the  highest  standards  of  work.  The 
association  should  have  included  in  its  director- 
ate representatives  from  all  the  churches,  besides 
business  men  and  mothers.  There  are  plenty  of 
men  and  women  who  would  be  glad  to  help  chil- 
dren morally  if  they  knew  about  their  needing  it. 


PROBATION  247 

Their  help  can  not  be  secured  to  any  great  extent 
except  through  the  organization  of  county  juve- 
nile court  and  probation  associations.  These  as- 
sociations enlist  the  interest  of  most  thoughtful 
and  influential  citizens  whose  help  could  not  be 
purchased,  but  who  will  freely  give  it.  The  ob- 
ject of  such  associations  is  to  promote  the  high- 
est type  of  service  to  children  and  to  extend  and 
unify  the  system.  It  is  a  fatal  error  to  work  for 
the  adoption  of  laws  and  then  give  no  attention 
to  their  administration.  Advances  in  nearly  all 
cases  are  the  result  of  the  thought  and  work  of 
those  not  officially  or  financially  associated  with 
the  system.  When  those  who  are  interested  in 
helping  wayward  children  are  organized  a  force 
of  inestimable  value  for  service  is  gained. 

The  State  Commission. — A  state  probation 
commission  composed  of  men  and  women  who 
believe  in  the  newer  ways  of  helping  children 
and  who  can  serve  without  pay  is  the  center 
from  which  should  radiate  county  juvenile  pro- 
bation commissions,  the  latter  reporting  at 
stated  intervals  to  the  state  commission,  and  all 
working  under  uniform  rules.  The  county  asso- 
ciation should  be  chartered  by  the  court  and 
should  have  special  charge  of  all  probation  work. 
The  selection  of  people  properly  qualified  to  be 
probation  officers  is  an  important  service  that 
such  associations  may  render.  Judges  as  a  rule 
are  better  informed  as  to  lawyers  and  legal  spe- 


248  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

cialists  than  as  to  those  who  are  fitted  to  lead 
children.  They  are  greatly  helped  by  the  recom- 
mendation of  candidates  who  are  fitted  to  do  the 
work.  In  one  city  the  judges  have  required  all 
candidates  to  be  endorsed  by  the  county  juvenile 
court  association.  Appointments  have  been  made 
annually.  This  has  made  it  possible  to  drop 
those,  without  bringing  discredit  to  them,  who 
have  not  measured  up  to  the  standard  of  work 
required.  This  is  fair  and  just,  for  many  good 
and  earnest  men  and  women  fail  to  make  good 
in  helping  wayward  children,  yet  are  useful  in 
other  kinds  of  work.  The  judge  who  has  a  coun- 
ty probation  association  and  good  probation  offi- 
cers may  safely  confine  himself  to  the  judicial 
part  of  the  work,  being  sure  that  the  other  parts 
will  be  carefully  and  conscientiously  done. 

Cooperation  of  Churches — The  cooperation 
of  churches  secured  by  county  probation  asso- 
ciations connects  churches  with  home  mission- 
ary work  in  a  way  that  has  proved  of  the  great- 
est value  to  children  as  well  as  to  the  churches 
themselves,  which  wish  to  do  the  work  that  lies 
at  their  own  doors.  Character  building  is  the 
work  of  the  church.  It  must  go  out  into  the 
highways  and  hedges,  and  not  only  work  for 
those  who  come  within  its  circle.  It  must  get 
into  touch  with  those  who  need  moral  help  and 
guidance.  A  certain  church,  learning  of  the  need 
through  its  representative  in  the  county  proba- 


PROBATION  249 

tion  association,  put  work  benches  in  a  large 
basement  room  and  invited  all  the  boys  who  had 
been  giving  trouble  to  come  there.  Part  of  the 
evening  was  spent  in  carpentry  work,  the  other 
part  in  games  and  reading.  The  young  men  of 
the  church  took  charge  and  they  became  more 
interested  in  the  church  because  it  was  putting 
into  practise  its  preaching.  They,  too,  were 
helped  by  this  opportunity  to  help  others.  An- 
other church  opened  a  house  in  a  part  of  the  city 
where  there  were  many  children  and  made  it  a 
center  for  them  and  their  parents.  Still  another 
quietly  supplied  shoes  and  clothes  for  children 
who  were  truants  on  account  of  the  lack  of  these 
things.  Other  churches  have  paid  the  whole 
salary  of  a  probation  officer.  In  many  churches 
pastors  have  interested  themselves  in  visiting 
children  and  parents,  while  their  own  outlooks 
have  been  broadened  by  seeing  the  conditions 
under  which  many  children  are  compelled  to  live. 
The  different  denominations  have  thus  united  in 
a  common  service — Protestant,  Catholic  and  Jew 
have  joined  hands  in  saving  the  children. 

Mothers'  Circles. — A  mothers'  circle  repre- 
sented in  a  county  association  has  for  several 
years  paid  for  a  wayward  boy's  education  in  a 
boarding  school  where  he  could  have  special  care 
until  he  could  support  himself.  Another  moth- 
ers' circle  for  years  has  paid  the  salary  of  a  pro- 
bation officer  and  has  cooperated  with  her  in 


250  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

helping  the  children.  The  cooperation  of  citi- 
zens is  most  influential  in  changing  the  condi- 
tions causing  crime.  It  was  on  account  of  the" 
light  thrown  on  child  life  in  cities  by  the  juvenile 
court  that  playgrounds  have  been  established. 
It  is  through  the  help  of  citizens  that  the  sale  of 
cigarettes  to  minors  has  been  discouraged.  It  is 
through  the  help  of  citizens  that  saloons  near 
schools  have  been  compelled  to  close  their  doors.- 
It  is  through  citizens'  cooperation  that  the  states 
now  having  the  best  probation  work  have  gained 
that  position.  Also  through  citizens'  coopera- 
tion is  preventive  work  being  done  that  keeps 
many  children  from  ever  being  brought  into 
court.  The  more  widely  knowledge  is  spread 
concerning  children  whose  lives  are  tending 
downward,  the  more  widely  recognition  is  gained 
for  the  fact  that  this  is  a  problem  concerning  us 
all,  by  so  much  the  sooner  will  wayward  children 
receive  the  care  that  will  prevent  further  wrong- 
doing. 

If  each  neighborhood  church  were  interested 
in  learning  about  the  life  and  conditions  of  the 
children  in  its  district  and  would  endeavor  in- 
telligently to  meet  their  needs  the  work  for  child 
welfare  would  be  evenly  distributed.  If  each 
family  would  show  some  personal  interest  in  just 
one  unattractive  wayward  child  it  would  lighten 
the  burden  of  work  now  borne  by  a  few.  Instead 
of  shunning  street  waifs  and  street  boys  a  wel- 


PROBATION  251 

come  must  be  given  them,  for  how  can  they  ever 
know  better  ways  if  they  may  never  associate 
with  those  who  have  achieved  better  ways  of 
living? 

If  there  is  no  county  juvenile  association  in 
your  county,  form  one,  and  see  how  much  there 
is  for  it  to  do.  It  is  worth  while  to  organize 
the  best  people  of  a  county  to  help  save  the 
wayward  children.  Without  organization  the 
people  who  could  help  and  the  children  who  need 
the  help  never  meet.  The  county  probation  as- 
sociation is  the  connecting  link,  and  a  most  im- 
portant one  in  providing  means  to  help  the  way- 
ward children.  It  should  be  at  the  right  hand 
of  every  judge  of  a  juvenile  court. 

Detention  Houses. — The  provision  of  a  suit- 
able place  for  caring  for  children  who  are  await- 
ing hearings  or  who  need  the  protection  of  the 
court  is  a  necessity  which  should  be  met  by  ev- 
ery county.  Incalculable  injury  has  been  done 
to  children  by  sending  them  to  almshouses,  sta- 
tion houses  and  jails  because  these  were  the 
only  available  places  open  to  them.  In  nearly 
all  cases  of  delinquency  children  may  be  per- 
mitted to  remain  in  their  own  homes  until  the 
hearing,  their  parents  being  responsible  for  their 
appearance.  Where  the  home  is  respectable  it 
is  preferable  that  the  child  remain  there  rather 
than  be  taken  to  any  other  place.  There  are, 
however,  cases  where  it  is  necessary  to  have  a 


252  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

place  which  is  always  ready  to  which  children 
may  be  taken,  where  they  will  receive  proper 
care  and  where  they  will  not  be  subjected  to 
associations  and  influences  detrimental  to  their 
future. 

Homeless  children,  children  whose  parents  are 
drunkards,  lost  children,  runaways,  children  held 
as  witnesses,  as  well  as  erring  children — all  these 
require  a  place  of  this  kind.  It  should  be  pro- 
vided by  every  county.  The  expense  will  be  the 
stumbling  block  which  will  be  urged  against  it. 
Whatever  it  might  cost,  however,  it  would  be 
an  economy  in  the  end.  Only  in  counties  hav- 
ing a  very  large  urban  population  will  it  be  nec- 
essary or  desirable  to  have  an  entire  house  for 
the  temporary  care  of  such  children.  In  other 
counties  rooms  should  be  provided  in  the  home 
of  some  responsible  person  which  should  be 
suitably  fitted  for  the  purpose  and  kept  always 
ready  for  use.  The  expense  of  renting  such 
rooms  would  be  small  and  a  fixed  rate  for  the 
board  and  care  of  children  during  the  time  they 
are  there  could  be  made.  These  rooms  should 
be  in  the  largest  town  of  the  county,  and  where 
the  probation  ofificer  lives.  It  is  desirable  in- 
deed that  they  should  be  in  the  same  house  with 
the  probation  ofificer.  The  rooms  should  be  as 
homelike  as  possible,  with  no  reminders  of  the 
prison,  though  escape  should  be  inconspicuously 
guarded  against.     There  is  no  county  too  poor 


PROBATION  253 

to  safeguard  its  children  in  this  way.  There  is 
no  county  where  such  provision  is  not  needed. 
In  one  county  known  to  the  writer,  where  there 
is  a  city  of  the  second  class,  the  entire  expense 
for  one  year  is  eight  hundred  dollars. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  harm  that  has 
been  done  to  children  who  have  everywhere  been 
sent  to  jails,  station  houses  and  almshouses,  in 
association  v/ith  adult  lawbreakers  of  every  sort, 
and  kept  there  until  the  court  released  them  as 
the  directors  of  the  poor  found  homes  for  them. 
Even  innocent  children  desired  as  witnesses  in 
some  cases  have  been  subjected  to  this  ordeal. 
Pennsylvania  has  led  all  the  states  in  passing  a 
law  compelling  every  county  to  provide  rooms 
or  a  building  apart  from  jails  for  children  await- 
ing a  hearing.  The  children  in  sparsely  settled 
counties  have  been  accorded  the  same  protection 
from  bad  associations,  through  this  regulation, 
as  the  children  in  the  cities. 

The  first  detention  houses  in  large  cities  where 
hundreds  of  children  need  temporary  care  were 
erected  in  Philadelphia  and  Chicago.  Other  cit- 
ies have  rented  houses  which  have  been  just  as 
suitable  for  the  purpose.  The  Philadelphia  de- 
tention house  was  so  designed  as  to  include  the 
court  room  and  separate  waiting  rooms  for  wit- 
nesses. Small  conference  rooms  are  also  pro- 
vided where  probation  officers  can  have  confi- 
dential talks  with  the  children;  and  there  is  also 


254  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

a  room  for  physical  inspection  by  physicians,  a 
roof  garden  for  outdoor  play,  a  schoolroom  with 
a  teacher  delegated  by  the  superintendent  of 
schools,  a  number  of  single  rooms  for  children, 
baths  and  showers  and  provision  for  the  com- 
plete separation  of  the  girls'  department  from 
the  boys'. 

The  detention  house  may  be  an  ordinary 
dwelling  house.  It  should  have  single  rooms 
with  good  air  and  light,  and  it  should  be  simply 
but  neatly  furnished.  It  is  not  wise  to  place 
children  together  to  compare  experiences.  They 
may  be  together  in  the  presence  of  the  caretaker, 
but  not  otherwise.  Acquaintance  with  the  other 
children  there  is  not  to  be  desired  or  encour- 
aged. 

The  child's  first  appearance  in  a  detention 
house  is  a  turning  point  in  his  life.  He  is  fright- 
ened and  in  a  state  where  it  means  much  to  se- 
cure the  influence  over  him  which  will  help  later. 
The  probation  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  learn 
all  about  the  child  and  who  will  probably  have 
the  care  of  him  afterward  is  the  proper  person 
to  meet  and  talk  with  the  child.  The  first  step 
counts  for  much.  The  child's  attitude  toward 
his  offense  will  be  largely  determined  by  the 
influence  of  the  person  who  meets  him  and  is  in 
charge  of  him  at  a  time  when  he  is  specially 
impressionable.  The  house  and  equipment  are 
secondary  in  importance  to  the  personality  and 


PROBATION  255 

qualifications  of  those  who  make  its  atmosphere 
and  its  influence.  It  is  the  heart  of  the  child 
that  must  be  reached,  touched  and  influenced. 
If  that  is  not  done  nothing  can  make  up  for  the 
failure.  In  order  to  do  this  one  who  assumes 
charge  of  a  detention  house  must  have  a  real 
love  for  children,  a  belief  in  their  possibilities, 
unfailing  sympathy,  patience  and  ability  to 
awaken  their  better  nature.  Combined  with 
these  qualities  there  must  be  ability  to  make 
the  house  homelike,  orderly  and  well  kept. 
Though  the  majority  of  children  will  be  there 
but  a  few  days,  they  may  be  epoch-making  days 
in  their  lives. 

The  responsibility  for  the  administration  of 
the  detention  house  is  an  important  matter.  In 
some  places  it  has  been  given  to  county  com- 
missioners, but  this  is  not  satisfactory.  It  must 
be  as  far  removed  from  politics  as  possible.  It 
must  have  no  tinge  of  the  prison.  It  must  be 
in  charge  of  those  who  are  abreast  of  the  times 
in  the  newer  views  of  child  treatment.  It  is  the 
receiving  station  for  children  whose  cases  re- 
quire skilled  and  sympathetic  diagnosis. 

The  most  satisfactory  administration  should 
be  secured  by  placing  the  supervision  of  county 
probation  work  and  the  county  detention  house 
under  the  direction  of  a  county  juvenile  proba- 
tion commission  composed  of  men  and  women 
who  believe  in  the  newer  methods  of  caring  for 


256  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

children  and  who  will  serve  without  compensa- 
tion under  the  general  direction  of  a  state  pro- 
bation commission.  The  centralization  of  all 
child  protection  under  a  responsible,  intelligent 
management  makes  for  greater  efficiency.  The 
separation  of  the  judicial  function  from  the  actual 
responsibility  for  the  care  of  the  children  se- 
cures better  results.  By  this  system  the  inter- 
est of  the  best  citizens  can  be  secured  and  the 
plan  can  be  used  where  judges  have  no  time  for 
other  than  the  judicial  part  of  the  work.  There 
are  comparatively  few  counties  that  can  have  a 
special  judge.  Every  county  must  adjust  itself 
for  undertaking  the  proper  care  of  the  children 
through  using  the  judicial  machinery  already  in 
use.  This  system  can  be  organized  in  any  coun- 
ty. Its  success  has  been  proved.  Where  no  law 
provides  for  it,  interested  citizens  may  carry  out 
the  plan  until  its  real  value  has  been  demon- 
strated. Wherever  this  has  been  done  the  county 
has  eventually  assumed  the  expense. 


CHAPTER   XV 
A  children's  charter  for  the  united  states 

GREAT  BRITAIN  is  the  first  nation  which 
through  its  parhament  has  made  a  broad 
survey  of  the  conditions  affecting  all  the  chil- 
dren of  that  nation,  with  a  view  to  enacting 
measures  which  would  best  minister  to  the  chil- 
dren's welfare.  Education,  health,  treatment  of 
the  erring  and  the  protection  of  all  were  the  ob- 
jects of  the  study  made  by  an  official  commis- 
sion. The  result  was  the  enactment  of  a  Chil- 
dren's Charter.  Doubtless  improvements  will 
be  made  from  time  to  time,  but  here  for  the  first 
time  the  general  welfare  of  the  juvenile  popula- 
tion of  the  entire  nation  was  made  the  subject 
of  a  careful  survey  by  the  highest  public  body  of 
the  nation. 

What  has  been  done  in  Great  Britain  could  be 
advantageously  followed  in  all  other  countries. 
In  education  we  are  doing  something  of  the  sort; 
various  states  are  enacting  educational  codes  to 
take  the  place  of  the  unsystematic  legislation  of 
the  past.     The   formulation   of   a   carefully   de- 

257 


258  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

termined  code  that  meets  the  requirements  of 
all  is  a  great  work  that  must  vastly  increase  the 
uniform  efficiency  of  the  educational  system. 
Such  codes  are  being  tested  now  to  prove  their 
working  value,  and  when  they  are  thoroughly 
tested  improvements  can  be  made  wherever  they 
are  found  necessary.  But  while  education  covers 
a  vast  portion  of  the  general  field  of  child 
welfare,  the  child's  health  covers  another  por- 
tion quite  as  important.  State  and  local  boards 
of  health  have  already  done  much,  but  much 
more  remains  to  be  done  in  order  adequately  to 
safeguard  the  lives  and  health  of  babies,  chil- 
dren and  youths. 

State  boards  of  charities  have  followed  a  rou- 
tine in  their  work  for  child  welfare  which  leaves 
much  to  be  desired  if  this  work  is  to  be  brought 
up  to  the  requirements  of  to-day.  Congested 
districts,  slums,  mines  and  factories,  moving-pic- 
ture shows,  cheap  sensational  theaters  and 
trashy  books  all  have  an  important  influence  on 
children. 

A  broad  survey  of  general  conditions  has  yet 
to  be  officially  made  in  the  United  States.  Vari- 
ous organizations  have  made  partial  surveys  in 
some  special  fields,  but  these  have  not  been  suffi- 
cient to  bring  about  conditions  that  will  conserve 
the  interests  of  all  children. 

The  Congress  of  the  United  States  would  ren- 
der a  great  service  to  the  nation  if  it  would  pro- 


A  CHILDREN'S  CHARTER  259 

vide  for  a  commission  to  make  such  a  survey 
with  a  view  to  meeting  the  needs  of  all  children 
in  the  most  efficient  way.  For  this  purpose  such 
a  commission  should  have  as  its  members  fa- 
thers and  mothers  who  have  given  conscientious 
care  to  the  bringing  up  of  their  own  children, 
good  and  successful  teachers,  leaders  in  kinder- 
garten work,  physicians  wdio  have  made  a  spe- 
cial study  of  children,  leaders  in  baby-saving 
work,  men  and  women  who  have  successfully 
helped  wayward  and  deficient  children,  business 
and  professional  men  and  women,  those  familiar 
with  the  immigrant  problem  and  the  problem  of 
the  healthful  housing  of  families  and  others  who 
have  given  broad  study  to  the  influences  detri- 
mental to  the  home  and  children.  To  make  a 
study  such  as  this  that  would  be  worth  while 
would  take  time  and  money,  but  the  result  would 
pay  many  times  over  for  all  it  would  cost. 

The  need  for  broad,  disinterested,  constructive 
planning  for  the  all-round  welfare  of  all  children 
is  one  that  becomes  very  evident  to  those  who 
have  given  any  study  to  the  subject.  Every  state 
should  know  all  the  conditions  in  the  state  affect- 
ing child  life  in  order  to  undertake  whatever 
measures  are  necessary  for  bringing  all  the  laws 
and  agencies  affecting  children  into  one  com- 
plete, harmonious,  efficient  system.  New  meas- 
ures and  new  practises  should  then  be  inau- 
gurated as  they  are  required. 


260  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

No  Correlation. — As  it  is  now  there  are  great 
gaps  in  some  directions  and  great  wastes  in  oth- 
ers. There  is  no  correlation  of  the  departments 
which  have  to  do  with  different  phases  of  child 
life,  nor  is  there  any  authorized  body  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  know  all  the  conditions  of  child  life 
within  the  state.  It  is  impossible  for  any  legis- 
lature to  determine  intelligently,  with  little  pre- 
vious study  of  the  subject  and  in  the  short  time 
at  its  disposal,  all  that  a  state  requires  in  the 
way  of  provision  for  child  welfare.  Antiquated 
institutions  and  methods  continue  in  use  because 
there  is  no  one  whose  duty  it  is  to  learn  if  there 
are  not  newer  and  better  ways  of  meeting  some 
special  need. 

Views  concerning  the  care  of  children  have 
advanced  so  far  beyond  those  of  the  last  cen- 
tury and  the  needs  of  the  country  are  so  differ- 
ent that  the  whole  question  of  child  welfare 
should  everywhere  be  considered  and  an  ade- 
quate, up-to-date  and  comprehensive  system  be 
adopted. 

Better  Opportunities. — One  of  the  greatest 
changes  has  come  to  those  who  were  once  called 
dumb  because  they  were  deaf.  It  is  now  known 
that  no  child  need  be  dumb,  but  that  he  can  be 
taught  to  speak  and  to  receive  his  education  in 
the  common  schools.  Yet,  while  this  fact  has 
been  proved,  the  majority  of  deaf  children  are 


A  CHILDREN'S  CHARTER  261 

still  sent  to  state  institutions,  which  do  not  take 
them  before  they  are  eight  years  old. 

The  years  in  which  the  normal  child  most 
easily  learns  language  should  be  utilized  in 
teaching  the  child  handicapped  by  deafness.  As 
it  is,  few  are  provided  with  the  opportunity  to 
develop  the  ability  to  speak  at  the  normal  age. 
And  yet  the  isolation  of  the  deaf  from  compan- 
ionship with  people  of  normal  hearing  is  not  de- 
sirable and  is  no  longer  necessary. 

It  would  be  the  province  of  a  child  welfare 
survey  commission  to  report  such  needed 
changes  of  method  to  governors  and  legislatures, 
courageously  laboring  for  the  welfare  of  chil- 
dren no  matter  how  this  may  affect  methods 
and  institutions  at  present  in  use.  Antiquated 
methods  and  institutions  should  everywhere 
have  their  places  taken  by  newer  and  more  effi- 
cient ones.  Every  state  has  provided  in  some 
way  for  the  care  of  its  blind  children.  Now  that 
the  causes  of  blindness  are  known  every  state 
should,  through  its  boards  of  health  and  educa- 
tion, let  these  causes  be  known  and  as  far  as 
possible  introduce  measures  that  will  prevent 
them.  This  is  much  more  important  than  the 
care  of  the  blind. 

A  child  welfare  survey  commission  would  be 
informed  as  to  every  condition  affecting  children 
in  every  part  of  the  state.    It  would  thus  be  able 


262  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

to  advise  the  legislature  by  clear  reports  of 
needed  improvements  as  v^ell  as  actual  condi- 
tions. The  state  owes  more  to  its  children  than 
it  has  yet  given  them.  A  careful  study  should 
be  made  of  the  results  of  v^hat  it  is  already  doing 
for  them.  Purposeful,  v^ell  considered,  consecu- 
tive work  should  be  undertaken  to  strengthen 
weak  places  in  whatever  ways  will  redound  to 
the  better  development  of  the  children.  The 
personnel  of  legislatures  changes  rapidly  and 
legislators  themselves  are  usually  entirely  unin- 
formed as  to  what  the  state  does  or  does  not  do 
for  its  children.  Thus  the  help  that  could  be 
given  by  a  permanent  child  welfare  commission 
would  be  invaluable.  With  the  best  intentions 
in  the  world  no  legislator  has  the  time  to  inform 
himself  fully  on  every  bill  that  comes  before  him. 
It  takes  years  to  learn  all  that  is  involved  in  the 
question  of  child  welfare  in  a  great  state.  The 
lives,  health,  education  and  character  of  our  fu- 
ture citizens  are  all  at  stake.  That  state  will  be 
great  and  strong  and  rich  which  is  prodigal  of 
thoughtful  consideration  and  protection  for  all 
the  needs  of  its  children. 

Child  Welfare  Commissions. — The  need  for  a 
child  welfare  commission  in  every  city  is  shown 
almost  daily  through  incidents  which  are  con- 
tinually arising  in  regard  to  children.  Those 
who  have  given  much  thought  to  children  know 


A  CHILDREN'S  CHARTER  263 

these  things  to  be  injurious  and  they  could  easily 
be  prevented  if  there  were  a  child  welfare  com- 
mission studying  all  that  occurs  in  its  relation 
to  the  child.  For  instance,  a  policeman  in  a  large 
city  recently  arrested  five  or  six  children  under 
eight  years  of  age  for  selling  chewing-gum  on 
the  streets  on  a  summer  evening.  They  were 
taken  in  a  patrol  wagon  to  a  detention  house, 
kept  over  night  there  and  arraigned  before  a 
magistrate.  If  they  had  been  guilty  of  any  crime 
the  procedure  would  have  been  exactly  the  same. 
They  had  violated  a  city  ordinance  designed  for 
child  protection,  and  the  policeman  under  the 
law  was  justified  in  making  the  arrests  because 
there  had  been  no  ruling  which  would  enable  of- 
ficers to  enforce  the  ordinance  in  other  ways 
than  by  the  arrest  of  babies.  There  are  right 
ways  and  wrong  ways  of  attaining  the  same 
result.  In  this  case  the  wrong  way  defeated  the 
purpose  for  which  the  ordinance  was  passed  and 
subjected  the  children  to  treatment  as  harmful 
as  selling  gum  on  the  street.  The  police  should 
be  instructed  not  to  arrest  children  under  twelve 
for  violating  city  ordinances.  They  should  take 
the  children  home  and  order  their  parents  to  ap- 
pear in  juvenile  court  to  answer  for  them.  Chil- 
dren should  not  be  confined  in  any  detention 
house  for  the  violation  of  city  ordinances. 

No  general  scheme  for  child  protection  is  com- 


264  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

pletely  thought  out  to  its  completion.  On  the 
other  hand,  such  thought  is  not  the  business  of 
the  pohce  department  nor  can  it  be  expected 
that  without  suggestion  from  any  source  police- 
men will  naturally  do  what  is  best  for  the  chil- 
dren. One  large  American  city  maintains,  for 
the  placement  and  oversight  of  all  its  dependent 
waifs,  a  subsection  of  the  Department  of  Health 
and  Charities  in  charge  of  one  man  who  receives 
a  salary  less  than  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  the 
year  and  who  has  at  his  disposal  six  hundred  dol- 
lars the  year  for  the  expense  of  placing  children. 
Could  such  a  condition  continue  if  this  city  had 
a  child  welfare  commission  supervising  and 
studying  all  the  conditions  of  childhood? 

Saving  the  wayward  child  can  only  become  an 
effective  process  through  a  thorough  study  of 
the  conditions  causing  waywardness,  the  re- 
moval of  such  conditions  and  the  provision  of 
education  that  will  teach  each  child  what  is  right 
in  such  a  manner  as  will  give  him  the  desire  to 
do  right.  The  wayward  child  has  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  greatest  factors  making  for  the  so- 
called  criminal  class  of  society.  When  one 
knows  the  conditions  that  many  of  the  men  and 
women  in  prison  have  had  to  endure  in  youth, 
and  when  one  learns  of  the  lives  of  the  children 
who  come  into  the  courts  one  can  no  longer 
wonder  that  the  ranks  of  crime  are  always  full. 


A  CHILDREN'S  CHARTER  265 

One  can  only  wonder  that  the  world  has  not 
sooner  learned  that  what  one  sows  one  reaps, 
that  neglect  and  \vrong  treatment  during  the 
most  impressionable  years  of  life  are  bound  to 
bear  their  legitimate  fruit  in  untrained  and  un- 
controlled manhood  and  womanhood. 

When  one  sees  arid  land  blossom  and  bear  a 
rich  harvest,  when  one  sees  the  vast  increase  in 
the  production  of  corn  and  wheat  to  the  acre 
made  possible  by  the  introduction  of  intelligent 
cultivation,  one  must  grant  that  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  human  plant  there  are  equally  great 
possibilities  for  improvement.  To  prevent  way- 
wardness in  children  is  better  than  to  spend 
one's  efforts  on  trying  to  save  them  after  they 
have  become  wayward. 

The  many  causes  that  have  conduced  to  make 
the  wayward  child  a  problem  in  the  home,  the 
school  and  the  community  have  been  shown  in 
previous  chapters.  These  causes  are  many  and 
varied  and  only  by  concerted  and  constructive 
effort  can  they  be  removed.  Measures  which 
will  go  far  toward  preventing  waywardness  are : 

I.  The  education  of  parents  in  child  nurture 
and  home  making. 

n.  The  education  of  all  teachers  in  the  proper 
methods  of  treating  wayward  children. 

HI.  The  better  adaptation  of  our  educational 
system  to  children's  natural  interests. 


266  THE  WAYWARD  CHILD 

IV.  Better  provision  for  the  care  of  orphans 
and  of  children  who  for  any  other  reason  are  de- 
prived of  home  care. 

V.  The  abolishment  of  the  congested  districts 
and  slums  in  our  cities. 

VI.  The  provision  by  city,  state  and  nation  of 
adequate  means  for  the  promotion  of  child  wel- 
fare in  all  its  phases. 

In  addition  boys  and  girls  should  receive  edu- 
cation that  will  give  them  high  standards  of  mar- 
riage and  of  home  making.  Parent-teacher  as- 
sociations in  schools  can  be  made  valuable  cen- 
ters for  education  in  child  nurture.  Parents'  as- 
sociations in  churches  can  also  be  made  valuable 
if  they  are  used  for  teaching  parents  how  to  de- 
velop the  spiritual  life  of  their  children  and  how 
to  make  their  children  apply  the  laws  of  life  in 
their  daily  lives. 

The  guiding  force  of  every  life  is  the  spirit. 
The  value  of  the  earliest  years  of  life  for  in- 
stilling principles  which  will  shape  the  child's 
whole  future  is  rarely  realized  as  it  should  be. 
Certainly  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  crime 
lies  in  constructive  work  for  little  children  and 
in  the  protection  and  guidance  of  all  those  who 
need  help. 

What  the  United  States  will  become  depends 
more  on  the  character  and  ideals  of  those  who 
are  boys  and  girls  to-day  than  on  the  currency 
question,  the  tariff  adjustment  or  the  enforce- 


A  CHILDREN'S  CHARTER         267 

ment  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  Citizens  are  in 
the  making  everywhere.  Whether  they  will  at- 
tain their  highest  possibilities  or  whether  their 
lives  will  be  wrecked  and  they  will  become  a 
burden  to  the  community  depends  on  the  atten- 
tion and  care  that  are  given  to  the  study  of  child 
nurture  and  child  welfare  in  home,  church,  school 
and  state.  There  are  no  babies  who  are  born 
criminals.  There  will  be  few  men  and  women 
who  will  choose  a  criminal  life  when  every  con- 
dition afifecting  children  is  adjusted  so  as  to  en- 
able them  best  to  develop  their  God-given  possi- 
bilities. 


THE  END 


INDEX 


INDEX 


ADULT  MISTAKES;  that  make  criminals,  03,  94,  95, 
96,  97,  98 ;  prison  inmates  give  results  of  sending  boys 
to  prison,  100,  101,  102,  103,  104,  105;  in  criminal 
procedure,  159,  160,  161;  treatment  of  girls,  162; 
children  in  prisons,  163;  reform  schools,  185,  186; 
build  professional  criminal  class,  166;  making  new 
crimes,  174,  175;  in  cities,  176,  177,  178;  massing 
erring  children  together,  179,  180,  181 ;  the  institution 
child,  187. 

ARRESTS  OP  CHILDREN:  number  of,  4;  for  vagrancy, 
75;  abolishment  of,  226. 

BARLEYCORN,  JOHN,  value  in  study  of  child  welfare,  5. 

BOY  SCOUTS,  43. 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION:     provides  reading  courses  for 

boys  and  girls,  43;   Home  Education  Division,  134, 

135,  136. 

CHILD  WELFARE  COMMISSIONS  :     why  needed,  262,  263. 

CHILDREN'S  CHARTER,  257. 

CHILDREN'S  READING,  39,  42,  49,  50,  96. 

CIGARETTES,  7,  37,  39,  48,  50. 

CITIZENS'  INITIATIVE,  245. 

COFFMAN,  DR.  LOTUS  D.,  quoted  in  regard  to  personnel 

of  U.  S.  public  school-teachers,  113,  114. 
CONSTRUCTIVE  MEASURES,  265,  266. 
COOPERATION  OF  CHURCHES,  248,  250. 
CORRELATION  REQUIRED,  260. 
COVERT,  MRS.  E.  E.,  quoted,  139. 
CRISIS  IN  CHILD'S  LIFE,  3-5. 

DANGERS  TO  CHILDREN :  playing  truant— street  play- 
picking  coal  on  railroads — no  social  life  at  home,  6,  7 ; 
from  reform  schools,  57;  from  separation  of  par- 
ents— parents  responsible  for  same,  51;  from  ciga- 
rettes, 7 ;  lack  of  love,  26,  27,  28,  30,  31,  32,  48 ;  fear 
of  parents,  28. 

DEAF  CHILDREN,  260. 

DEDUCTIONS  FROM  FACTS  GIVEN,  114,  115,  116. 

DETENTION  HOUSES,  251,  252,  253,  254,  255,  256. 

DRINKING  PARENTS,  29. 

271 


"272  INDEX 

GIRLS :    treatment  in  courts,  162. 

GUARDIANS:    needed  for  children   of  divorced  parents, 

53,  54,  60 ;  state's  cognizance  of  need  of  guardians,  63 ; 

mothers    natural    guardians,    SI;    mothers'    pensions 

make  it  possible  to  appoint  mothers  as  guardians,  82, 

83,  84;  could  prevent  murder,  85. 

HALL,  G.  STANLEY,  quoted,  117. 

HOMELESS  CHILDREN:  two-thirds  of  prison  members 
homeless  children  or  worse,  73 ;  care  of,  74 ;  state's 
obligation  to,  76-7S;  statistics  of  prison  inmates  who 
were  homeless  children,   79,  80. 

HOOKWORM,  disease  prevented  by  discovery  of,  2. 

JUVENILE  COURT:  study  of  10,000  children,  34;  run- 
aways, 39 ;  nine-tenths  boys,  41 ;  children  taught  to 
steal,  63,  64;  placing  children  in  families,  77; 
children  in  juvenile  courts — school  children,  106; 
new  view  of  children's  offenses,  119 ;  work  of 
a  juvenile  court  and  probation  association  in 
prevention  of  crime,  128;  concerning  first  juve- 
nile courts,  204,  205,  206;  the  dependent  child 
in,  211-225,  the  erring  child  in,  212;  incorrigible  and 
truant  in,  213;  cases  brought  into,  215;  treatment 
required  for  successful  administration,  217 ;  probation 
work  in,  217;  equipment  required,  218,  229,  233,  234, 
235,  236,  238.  239,  240.  241,  243,  245,  248 ;  qualifications 
of  judge,  220 ;  application  of  juvenile  court  methods  in 
rural  districts,  221 ;  must  be  on  educational  basis,  222; 
state  supervision  of  probation  work,  223;  detention 
houses  for  children  awaiting  hearing,  224 ;  procedure 
in  juvenile  coui-t,  227 ;  safeguarding  system,  237. 

LEGISLATION:  remedial,  64;  effects,  65,  69;  concerning 
marriage  and  divorce,  77 ;  mothers'  pensions,  85. 

LOMBROSO,  reference  to  theory  of,  35. 

LONDON,  JACK,  in  life  story  gives  causes  of  children's 
offenses,  5. 

McKENTY,  ROBERT  .7..  quoted,  21,  72. 
MOTIVES  OF  OFFENSES,  244. 

NORMAL  CHILDREN:  nine-tenths  arrested  are,  35;  Na- 
tional Congress  of  Mothers  and  I'arent  Teacher  As- 
sociations provides  reading,  43;  plan  for  education  in 
child  nurture,  46. 


INDEX  273 

OCCUPATIONS— WORK :  regulation  of,  61-66;  street 
trades,  62 ;  effect  of  legislation  on,  65 ;  habit  of  work, 
68;  work  certificates,  69;  necessity  for  work,  70,  71; 
prison  inmates  emphasize  children's  need  of,  71. 

PARENTS :  responsible  for  arrests,  7 ;  responsibility  for 
other's  children,  10;  how  all  can  help,  10;  must  be 
informed  as  to  temptations  to  youth — must  combat 
them — parental  neglect,  16;  parents'  misunderstand- 
ing, 26 ;  inefBciency  of,  brings  children  into  juvenile 
court,  34;  parents'  mistakes,  30,  40,  41;  duty  of  con- 
cerning purity,  44,  45 ;  parental  ignorance,  46 ;  helps 
to,  40 ;  parental  desertion,  58,  59 ;  divorce,  52,  53 ; 
irresponsible  parents,  182,  183,  184;  treatment  of  dis- 
honesty by,  242. 

PARENT  TEACHER  ASSOCIATIONS,  purpose  of,  46,  87, 
267. 

PLAYGROUNDS,  67. 

PREVENTION:  TREATMENT  NEEDED  FOR:  when 
needed,  16 ;  to  prevent  impurity,  45. 

PRISON  INMATES :  causes  of  crime  given  by,  15,  18,  25, 
30,  31,  32,  33,  41,  47,  53,  54,  55,  56,  57,  58;  influence 
of  jails  on,  18,  19;  lack  of  parental  care,  73,  88,  90, 
91,  92;  effects  of  liquor  and  saloons,  143,  144,  145, 
146,  147,  148,  149,  150,  151,  152,  153,  154,  155,  156, 
157;  effects  of  the  reform  school,  188,  189,  190,  191, 
192,  193,  194,  195,  196,  198,  199,  200,  201,  202,  203; 
court  sentences  of  children,  230,  231,  232. 

PRISONS:  conditions  in,  169,  170,  171;  political  control 
of,  172;  needed  changes,  172. 

RELEASED  PRISONERS:  difBculties  of,  167;  help  in  re- 
storing to  useful  citizenship,  173. 

SCHOOL  LIBRARIES,  43. 

SCHOOLS :  bearing  of  schools  and  curricula  on  juvenile 
delinquency,  107,  108,  109,  110,  111;  trade  schools, 
111 ;  relation  of,  to  truancy,  125 ;  opportunities  of 
schools  in  prevention  of  crime,  128;  education  given 
concerning  alcohol,  138. 

SCHOOLS  AS  SOCIAL  CENTERS,  142. 

TEACHERS  :  one  teacher's  method,  108,  109,  110 ;  author- 
ity of,  112;  methods  of  discipline,  112;  qualifications 
for  good  teaching,  115 ;  married  women  as  teachers, 
116 ;  need  of  men  and  women  in  direction  of  educa- 
tional system,  117;  educators  qualified  to  guide  way- 


274  INDEX 

TEACHERS :     continued, 

ward  children,  119;  faults  every  teacher  encounters 
— how  to  meet,  126,  127;  message  to  young  teachers, 
129;  how  to  win  success,  130;  dealing  with  children 
who  lie  and  steal,  131;  parents'  cooperation  with, 
133;  treatment  of  dishonesty,  242. 

UNITED  STATES  IMMIGRATION  COMMISSION,  parents 
should  read  report  of,  45. 

WAYWARDNESS  REMEDIABLE:  wayward  child— rela- 
tion to  problem  of  crime,  1;  not  fundamentally  dif- 
ferent from  other  children,  1;  who  should  deal  with, 
3 ;  qualities  required  in  dealing  with,  2. 

WORKS,  SENATOR:  proposes  constitutional  amendment 
prohibiting  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquor,  139. 


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